Embers
by Sammie Writes
Summary: What had started as a routine mission quickly escalates into something much bigger. As another war looms on the horizon, Prince Chrom finds a great asset in the tactical genius of the young woman he found bloodstained in the field. But who could have guess that the future holds something much greater, and much more devastating, or even who is at the center of it all?
1. Chapter One

_What had started as a routine mission quickly escalates into something much greater. As another war looms on the horizon, Prince Chrom finds a great assent in the tactical genius of the young woman he found bloodstained in the field. But who could have guess that the future holds something much grater, and much more devastating, or even who is at the center of it all?_

* * *

**Authors Notes: **Honestly, there are two things difficult about writing this, first is how do you make the summary engaging? Second, are my battle strategies really a good idea, or are they only good ideas if everyone else is stupid? Clearly, I've made the right choice in writing for a Fire Emblem game.

So. this story will be filled with my headcanons, such as, who the hell was Robin's mother, some events in the first war, among other things. And before anyone asks, yes, I do have set parings, but they will be under wraps for the time being. Spoilers.

Anyway, let's get started.

* * *

_"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually - from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly… timey-wimey… stuff."  
\- The Tenth Doctor, Doctor Who, 'Blink'_

At the moment, I am very torn between wanting to scold him, and being in awe of his abilities. He very well knows that he should not be pushing himself like this; that his arm will start bothering him, and he won't be able to fight. We warned him, of course. We _always_ warn him every time we go out into battle. And he seldom listens. His right arm has not been the same since that night, just as the healer's had said.

But, in spite of his bad arm he always makes battle look so easy. I do not think I will ever live long enough to equal him in that aspect his injury not withstanding. I watch with one arm wrapped around my tome and with my opposite hand at the ready, as the blue haired man fights against the tall man with sickly grey skin. While this tall lanky man uses magic he and the blue-haired man are just about equal in speed.

I am not sure how but in spite of the danger and my current conflicts, I feel so, so safe in the company of the blue haired man. Like nothing else matters anymore. I trust him; I know him so well. But I fear that he can no longer say the same about me. Because, suddenly I don't know myself at all.

The two men continue to clash, the man in blue would go for a strike, then the sickly-skinned man would strike back with dark magical energies, and the process would repeat itself. Orange-yellow sparks begin to flicker around my free hand as I ready myself. The sickly-skinned man leaps up, levitating himself just below the banisters. His hands are held out in front of him, collecting the magical energies to strike down the man in blue. The man in blue is already dodging by the time the tall man throws down the spell.

The force of the blast throws me off my feet. I snap my tome open, careful not to lose it, then I toss my hand at the robed man. My Thoron spell sails into the air, but the man has already vanished before my spell could even hit him.

I slide to a stop, and look back up at the blue-haired man, just as blue electricity crashes into him. I shout his name, panic begins to swell up inside me. He's fine, I tell myself, he's _fine_. The dust begins to settle and the blue haired man pulls himself onto his knees. He is bruised, with thin cuts along his exposed skin; but thankfully, he looks relatively unharmed. He uses his sword, a brilliant piece of weaponry, as support to help him onto his knees.

My heart is in my throat. I can see pain written across his face, the shakiness in his arm confirms it, he went over the limit, his arm is starting to hurt him. It happened all the same, just like he said it wouldn't. I should know better, with so much at stake now he was not about to back down. If the situations were reversed, he knows I wouldn't either.

The buzz of electricity fills my ears; the tall, lanky man in the dark robes was preparing another spell. Cackling, the man throws the spell in the direction of the blue-haired man. "No!" I shout tossing another Thoron spell.

The two spells collide filling the room with a bright white light. I am glaring into the tall man's red eyes long before the light dies down. I have him to blame for all of our misfortunes. So much blood has been spilt, and a good portion of it is on his hands. So much of it was because of him in the first place. But… it's on mine too. Too many failed plans, too many enemies I underestimated, too many fallen comrades. And a bad temper to top it all off.

Perhaps it was better if I just disappeared. Maybe it would have been better if-

I feel a hand squeeze my shoulder. The blue-haired man is beside me, his sword still at his side, at the ready. "You're one of us," the blue haired man says assuringly. I look at him, and there I see that unwavering conviction in his eyes. "No 'destiny' can change that."

Just like that the rage and doubt are gone. These emotions are replaced with a light, bubbly serenity. Everything was going to be okay in the end. Everything would be all right. "Yeah," I nod.

"Why do you still resist?" the robed man shouts. "You cannot erase what has been written!"

No! He's wrong! He's wrong about everything! He's wrong about me!

I run at the heels of the blue-haired man, his sword shining brilliantly in what little light there is. The blue-haired man and the tall man suddenly go at it, not unlike they had just moments ago. I withdraw my own blade, and aim it at the robed man's neck. One way or another this was going to end today.

The tall man reaches his hand out to block my oncoming attack, just as I had hoped. I aim a Thoron spell into his side, just as the blue-haired man cuts into our opponents opposite side. The tall man pushes himself back a couple of yards away from us, black and purple flames dance around his body. The man falls onto his knees, he stays still for just a moment… and then he drops flat onto the floor.

The blue haired man looks back at me, and smiles. The weight is suddenly lifted off my shoulders, if only for a brief moment. It is like I was carrying a large wagon of heavy stones, and the stones just suddenly vanished. It's liberating.

I take a step forward, and reach out for the blue-haired man's hand. "This isn't over…" the robed man says through a ragged voice. He prompts himself up on one hand, and extends his opposite hand towards us. He shouts, utterly enraged, "DAMN YOU _**BOTH**_!"

I do not have time to think. I just act.

My extended hand suddenly changes its course, from the blue-haired man's hand, to his chest. I put as much strength into it as I can; I shove him out of the path of the other man's spell. I catch a glimpse at the blue-haired mans face. Fear and confusion is written all over it, he just realized what is happening. He just realized what I've done.

My vision goes white.

The blast is enough to throw me off my feet; hot pain sprouts from the middle of my chest, then spreads out to my upper arms, and my solar plexus. A new form of pain consumes me as soon as my back hit's the floor. I feel throbbing pain on my shoulders, and the back of my head. My head is a little fuzzy, I cannot remember what it is I'm supposed to be doing right now. What was our goal again? How do I even _breathe_?

The man in blue shouts my name, and with that alone, everything comes back to me. Our goals, our hopes. To breath you inhale, then exhale, then repeat for as long as you can.

Slowly, my vision begins to clear up; the blue-haired man runs up to me. He drops down to his knees, then, by wrapping an arm around my shoulders, he helps me to sit up. "You all right?" he asks, clearly concerned. As he prompts me up, I find that I cannot find my voice, so I nod in response. Relieved, the man looks back at the tall man in the dark robes. His body is disintegrating into a black and purple haze now, so surviving that. "That's the end of him… thanks to you, we carry the day."

I feel the blue-haired man's grip on me change. And then comes the pain from the deepest crevices of my head. The pain is so intense, I hardly notice the man helping me onto my feet. In this moment, I am no better than a puppet following the orders of a puppeteer. Another spasm of pain goes through my head, I vaguely wish for deaths embrace. "We can rest easy now," says the man, his voice sounds so distant and muffled, it's like I'm underwater, "at long last."

The pain in my head is constant, maddening. I would scream now if I could get relief, but I'm deathly afraid to do anything, I do not want to make it worse. _Help me_…

"What's wrong?" the man asks, mercifully reading my face. I don't trust myself to answer, but I just childishly will him to help me. I see a slight bit of panic on the man's face as he encourages, "Hang on! Hang-"

Blank.

My head is clear of pain. I blink, confused. What happened? The man's hand has left my neck, and I see him take a step away from me on unsteady legs. My heart stops. In his hand he holds a large volt of orange-yellow electricity in his abdomen. Already blood drips through his clothes.

My breathing becomes labored at the utter I feel over the sight. It's just the two of us here! Who could have…

Please no…

Utterly terrified, I look down at my dominate hand just in time to see small traces of electricity park across my fingers. It's enough to confirm my worst fear. "No…" I shake my head. Tears prickle at my eyes as I try to convince myself that it wasn't me. "No… No… _No_!"

Not him, please, please not him. He can't… he _can't_… not by my hands!

The man takes a step towards me, his free hand caresses my cheek, wiping the tears out of my eyed. _Don't_… "This is not your-your fault…" he rasps, blood begins to drip out of the corner of his mouth. "Promise me… you'll escape form this place… Please… go…"

The light leaves his eyes as they roll back into his head. He drops to his knees, then collapses onto the floor. Blood begins to pool out onto the floor. My hands clasps over my mouth, muffling the sobs that have finally escaped.

Why…

Why am _I_ still alive?

_Godsdamn it, why am I still alive?!_

I just… I want to die…

The sorcerer's cackling laughter echoes in the room. My shoulders begin to shake, I feel a smile form behind my hands. I lower them down to allow the low chuckle to escape my lips. Euphoria builds up inside me for the first time in who knew how long, I finally understand! Relieved I start laughing alongside the disemboweled voice.

I let the monster rise.

* * *

**Embers  
Chapter One  
The Verge of History**

* * *

If there was one thing about the day he could just forget ever happened, this really would have been nice. If he could ignore the battles he had just fought and the tragedy that befell one soul, this, right now, would have been a nice change of pace. Just taking a nice walk, to feel the wind on his face, and just breathe in the fresh sent of grass. If everyday could be like this moment, Chrom would have been more than willing to put up with Lissa's complaining. "Well, I'm _sorry_!" his younger sister, Lissa said. She threw down her hands in exasperation. "I am so, _so_ sorry if I don't understand why we ever bothered to bring a horse along if we don't even ride her!"

"A little walking builds character, milady," Frederick replied with a chuckle.

The brown haired man in a full suit of armor followed the brother-sister duo at a reasonably safe distance. Or, at least Frederick's definition of 'reasonably safe,' so he was probably less than three meters away as he lead his mare by the reigns.

Lissa, a blonde girl with green eyes, stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth and blew a raspberry. She had just turned sixteen a few short weeks ago, but she still had the tendencies of a nine-year-old at times. "If I wanted character building," retorted Lissa, "I would have stayed at home and trained with Sully."

"Believe me, I would have preferred it that way," Frederick muttered under his breath. It would have given him one less thing to worry about if Lissa had stayed behind.

"What was that?" asked Lissa.

"Nothing, milady."

"Frederick is right, Lissa," Chrom said, turning to his sister, "a little walking is good for you."

Lissa's brother Chrom was a young man with his twentieth year fast approaching. Lissa would often point out that he was a bit of a fashion disaster with the blue one-piece suit he wore and the bits of asymmetry, which included only one sleeve on his left arm. This left his right arm bare, therefore exposing the Mark on his shoulder. Chrom had a muscular built to him, with rather shaggy blue hair.

Lissa let out a sigh, then proceeded to pout while she crossed her arms over her chest. She knew her big brother was right, of course. Frederick's mare was already carrying her healing staff _and_ the medical supplies they brought in case the village they just visited needed them. Any more weight on her and the mare would tire out. But if Lissa had to walk much more, she was sure her legs would pop off. "You knew it would be like this when you became a Shepherd, milady," Frederick was quick to point out.

"I know," the blonde mumbled. "I also knew it would give you one more excuse to worry about every little thing, Sir Allow-Me-to-Clear-Every-Tiny-Little-Pebble-and-Stick-So-You-Don't-Trip!"

"Milady!" Frederick chided.

"She has a point, Frederick," chuckled Chrom.

He allowed his eyes to wander off to the field just off the dirt path. The three of them had just fought off bandits that had been terrorizing a small village throughout the night. They rescued the village, but sadly, there was one death, and a few injured from a traveling caravan who had warned the villagers. They told Chrom and the other's that they would give their fallen comrade a proper burial, and tried to assure him that she died without regrets. But she shouldn't have had to die, _period_.

Forcing the memories away, Chrom took in the scenery. The wind billowed through the grass, making the field look like waves were crashing into one another. His gaze followed the 'waves,' until Chrom spotted something truly unexpected; a human figure, a woman going by her long hair, lied motionless on the ground.

With a sharp inhale Chrom tore off the path, hurrying straight for the fallen woman. Lissa called his name before she chased after him with a bottle of vulnerary in her hands. Frederick, on the other hand, had called for them both. His pleas may as well have fallen upon deaf ears, as neither sibling responded.

When Chrom reached the woman's side, he dropped onto one knee then lowered himself down so that his face was in front of hers. Her warm breath met with his skin in steady beats. On the woman's opposite side Lissa dropped to her knees and began to inspect her. "She's still alive," Chrom said, standing back up.

"Not for a lack of trying…" said Lissa. She gingerly moved the flap of her thick coat to the side.

Chrom saw what Lissa had meant.

She was a young woman, about eighteen or nineteen, _maybe_ twenty, with skin a handsome shade of honey brown. The woman lied on her side with her hands close to her face; dried blood had coated her fingers. There were even bloodstains on her clothes, on her coat, her tunic underneath, and some even smeared on her neck and cheek.

Her white hair was fanned out around her head, a few locks had a little blood smeared on them. Outside of that there wasn't much else to describe about her at the moment. Ironically enough with her eyes closed, her head slightly tilted inward, and the calm expression on her face she looked like she could have been sleeping. Of course her current state suggested otherwise. "Plegian robes," Frederick said from behind the two. Chrom looked over his shoulder to find a hardened expression on Frederick's face. "We must leave. _Now_. This could be a trap set up by Plegians."

Oh yes… Chrom wasn't sure how he could have missed it. The woman was dressed in a thick, black coat with yellow-gold accents. On the coat's sleeves were three purple eyes that ran down the center, a classic sign of her Plegian origin, if her desert princess appearance did not already suggest such.

Lissa peered up at him over her shoulder, clearly unimpressed by his accusation. "_Honestly_!" she huffed. "Do you really believe they would be _this_ obvious."

"Milady," Frederick said, with a hint of exasperation, "you see that coat-"

"I see it," Lissa interrupted, "but that's all it is. Clothes do not mean anything."

"And the mark on her hand?" Frederick countered. "Does that not mean anything either."

Had Frederick not said anything, Chrom would have missed it completely. With the woman as alarmingly bloody as she was, the mark Frederick had mentioned would have been easy to miss. But now that Chrom had seen it, he couldn't tear his eyes from it. There it was, the light purple, strangely ethereal, mark on the back of the woman's right hand. It was not something one would see in Ylisse, but Chrom knew full well what it was; the Mark of Grima. The sigil of the Grimleal, and the mark of the fell dragon.

Lissa bit her lower lip momentarily. "It doesn't mean anything," she said, standing firm with her resolve.

"Milady, it's a blindingly obvious sign that she is one of the Grimleal," said Frederick.

"_And_? We cannot hold it against someone for the basic right to choose their religion."

"Even when they come from the country that's been terrorizing our borders? Who's to say _she_ hasn't? Look at the blood on her clothes, milady."

"But it's smeared!" Lissa argued. "For all we know she could have been trying to _save_ someone."

"I think we can both agree it's long dried," Frederick pointed out. "So it could have been splattered."

"Then why is she passed out on the ground here?"

"It is as I said, a Plegian tra-"

"Then why isn't she awake now? I'm sure they wouldn't keep us waiting." Lissa cupped both hands over her mouth and shouted, "OKAY, WE TOOK THE BAIT! IF YOU'RE GOING TO ATTACK US BETTER DO IT NOW! _C'MON, DON'T KEEP US WAITING_!"

Chrom pinched the bridge of his nose while Frederick tried to get Lissa to stop yelling. You could always count on the two of them to draw attention to themselves. "Hold on," Chrom spoke up. He raised one hand to silence the two; his gaze was held upon Lissa. "Now, I'm just as willing to hear this woman out, but I do agree that we should approach this with caution." He then turned to Frederick. "And what if Lissa is right, Frederick? For all we know, someone was in trouble, and this woman was trying to find help for them."

"Chrom," said Lissa. She stood up, her gaze held upon the woman, then up at her brother. "We have to do _something_."

"What do you propose we do?"

"Uh… I don't know…"

"Mmh…"

The siblings turned their attention back to the woman; she sat up, her eyes fluttered open to reveal a set of red irises. She blinked a couple of times, and shook her head to remove the dreariness. "Hey there," Lissa said to the woman with a kind, warm smile.

"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know," Chrom said hoping to put the woman at ease with a joke. He extended his hand to her, "Give me your hand."

Hesitantly, the woman slid her right hand, the very hand with the mark, into Chrom's. He pulled the woman onto her feet, she swayed slightly, still in a daze. "Easy," Chrom said gently. He placed his free hand on her shoulder to help her steady. "You all right?"

He smiled slightly recognizing that the woman was staring at him right in the face. The woman blinked once as the realization that she was staring dawned on her. Shaking her head, she released Chrom's hand and took a step back. The woman stood a full head shorter than Chrom, and her hair fell to her mid-back. While she clearly looked confused, she remained calm. "Yes…" she said, her voice, while pleasant and smooth, was hoarse. The woman cleared her throat, "Thank you, Chrom."

Oh, this should make this easier. "So you know me then."

The woman's eyes narrowed while she thought. Her brow furrowed, she was still confused, if not even more so now. It was like the woman was trying to grasp at something right in front of her, but her hands just slipped right through it. "No…" she shook her head. "I'm sorry… I don't know why I linked that name with you… It just… came to me…?"

It seemed highly possible that she was not Ylissean then. Granted, just about everything about her already suggested she wasn't Ylissean. The woman looked down at her hands, surprised by the blood coated on her fingers. With a glint of fear in her eyes, she looked more like a frightened child than a young woman.

"I see…" Chrom said thoughtfully. This was odd, but there were other things to worry about at the moment. "Might I ask for your name, then?"

"Y-Yes of course," said the woman. She lowered her arms to hide her bloodied hands with the long sleeves of her coat. "I'm… uh…"

She was silent for a few more seconds before her fist balled up in front of her mouth, the blood on her hand that had once frightened her was now no longer a concern. Her eyes were wide; she was desperately searching for something to hold onto. _Anything._ But there was nothing for her to grasp. "You don't know your name?" Chrom asked, furrowing his brow.

The woman tried to hide herself in her collar. _'What's your name,' _was the one question anyone should have been able to answer, but for some reason _she_ couldn't. The woman looked so lost and helpless in that moment, Chrom's sympathies went out to her. "But it's your own name," Lissa gasped, green eyes widening as she spoke, "everyone has one, right?"

"Where am I exactly?" the woman asked. "Nothing feels familiar."

"Oh! It's probably amnesia!" Lissa said in a hushed tone, as though the woman couldn't hear her. Odds were she could. "Maybe she fell off her horse."

"Or it's a load of pegasus dung," Frederick announced. He held a hard glare at the woman. "You mean to tell me this woman remembers milords name, but not her own."

"I know how this looks," the woman said. She swayed from left to right, while she hugged herself with one arm. "But I promise, I'm not lying."

"Forgive me, ma'am, if I find your words ring hollow," Frederick said. His cold gaze held upon the woman, but his words were firm and fair. "Your whole situation, and the way you present yourself reeks of suspicion."

"Frederick!" Lissa snapped.

"Milady, please take a step back and _think_ about all of this," Frederick said. He gestured to the woman. "We find an unknown, bloodstained woman in Plegian garb, with the Grimleal's emblem on her hand. She claims to know milord's name, but not her own? I'm afraid we cannot simply ignore this."

"And if it's true Frederick?" Chrom countered. "We cannot leave her alone and confused. What kind of Shepherds would we be otherwise?"

Frederick quickly glanced back at the woman. She was biting the inside of her cheek, and her brow was furrowed. If this woman an actress she played the part of the fool spectacularly well. "All the same, milord," he said after a pregnant pause, "we must emphasize caution."

Chrom turned his attention back to the woman. She was now trying to rub the blood off her hands, she was either oblivious to the stuff on her face or she simply chose to ignore it. However, the woman did not pay the mark on her hand any mind, completely unaware of what it meant, nor did she realize the significance behind her robes. "We'll sort this out when we get to Southtown," he decided. "It's not that far from here."

The woman's eyes snapped open in panic. "Wait a moment," she said, her hands balled up together in front of her chest, "don't I have a say in all this?"

"Peace, friend," Chrom said with a slight chuckle, "I promise we'll hear all you have to say back in town."

The woman was hesitant as Frederick lead the others back down the road. Perhaps she should run, perhaps they had wicked things planed for her. _Or,_ maybe they could help her, maybe she could find her family in this Southtown. What could she really do if she did not go with them.

* * *

In the end, the woman followed them. She tried to make herself small, to make herself invisible as she pondered her fate. What would she do if she could not remember herself? She could not expect these strangers to care for her, that is assuming they did not have anything horrid in store for her. But what if they did? What if they planed on selling her to a brothel? Oh, gods what was to become of her?

"What will you do with me?" the woman asked, stopping in her tracks. She couldn't stand the silence that fell upon the group, nor could she stand the suspense. "A-am I to be your prisoner?"

Chrom chuckled at this, prompting a blush on the woman's cheeks. "You'll be free to go once we establish that you're no enemy of Ylisse," he explained.

"Ylisse? Is that where we are?"

"Yes. This land is known as the Haildom of Ylisse. Our ruler is the Exalt, Emmeryn," said Chrom. "Is none of this familiar?"

The woman shook her head. "Well, don't push it," Lissa advised, "I'm sure it'll come to you in time."

The woman bit her inner cheek and nodded. As far as Chrom could tell she did not seem to be all that convinced. He decided that it was understandable. This whole experience had to be overwhelming. Chrom could not begin to imagine what was going through the woman's head that very moment.

For all any of them knew she was doing all she could to avoid breaking down right then and there.

"I suppose proper introductions are in order," said Chrom. "My name is Chrom - but then, you already knew that. The delicate one here is my little sister, Lissa."

"I am _not_ delicate!" Lissa snapped, pounding her older brother on the arm with her fists. When she was finished, she shoved him aside. "Ignore my brother, please. He can be a bit thick at times."

"And the perpetually paranoid one is Frederick the Wary," Chrom continued.

"A title I shall wear with pride," Frederick replied with a fake smile. This sort of teasing was nothing new to him, and he fully expected more in the years to come. "Gods forbid _one_ of us keeps an appropriate level of caution." He turned to face the woman with a calmer expression compared to the judgmental one he wore earlier. "I have every wish to trust you, stranger, but my station mandates otherwise."

The woman nodded. "I understand, sir," she said, "I would do no less in your position." The woman paused, staring off into the distance for a moment; she blinked. "Anali."

"Beg pardon?" Chrom asked studying the woman.

"My name," the woman said with a smile that was beginning to brighten by the second, "it's Anali. So strange, it just came to me."

"Anali…" Chrom repeated gripping his chin. There was something pleasant about it, however it certainly wasn't commonplace in Ylisse. "Sounds foreign."

"Oh! Maybe you're from Valm!" Lissa suggested in spite of Anali's blindingly obvious Plegian traits.

"Milord!" Frederick exclaimed.

In unison Chrom and Lissa turned to the direction of Southtown. A tall pillar of black smoke billowed out from the town. The scent of burnt wood was carried by the wind with the cries from the village. "Damn it!" Chrom shot out. "Brigands, no doubt. Frederick, Lissa, quick!"

"What about her?" Frederick asked gesturing to Anali.

"Unless she's on fire, she can wait!"

"Aptly put, milord."

Lissa hurried to Frederick's mare and pulled out her staff from the saddle bag. Frederick mounted the horse before he pulled the blonde girl up behind him. The mare tore off into a gallop with Chrom already ahead of them.

"B-but…" Anali said wearily. She held her hand out in a futile attempt to stop them, but they were already gone.

The town was in shambles. Homes and shops were either on fire or torn to bits, civilians blocked their doors, and brigands pillaged anyone they could. A few of Southtown's men had already taken up arms in retaliation with varying degrees of success.

A woman knelt on the ground, holding her husband close to her. The fool tried to fight back against one of the bandits but he was quickly, and brutally struck down. Now, cradling him close to her the woman was not sure if she should be praising him for bravery, or condemning him for sheer stupidity. She felt a strong, rough hand grab her from the back of her shirt collar, another hand forced her husband out of her arms.

The bandit dragged her back with one arm around her waist. The woman cried out nearly hysteric as she reached her hands out for the dying man on the ground. She knew full well what her fate had for her now, but could this man not wait until her husband was gone? Give her that at least. He needed someone with him, he needed her with him. _She_ needed to be with him!

Blood suddenly splattered onto the woman's back; she froze, stunned and afraid to look behind her. The bandit's grip on her lessened, and he fell over. Surprised, the woman took a chance and looked over her shoulder to find Chrom sliding his blade, the Falchion, back onto it's sheath. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes," the woman breathed out wiping the tears from her eyes. "Thank you, milord."

Lissa knelt down beside the woman's husband, muttering something under her breath. She tore her eyes off the man and looked up at his wife. "Your husband will be fine," she said. "Can you please spread the word that I'm caring for the wounded, and that I will need as much help as possible."

The woman nodded and went into the nearest shop that had yet to be plundered. "I've got things taken care of here, Chrom," Lissa said, looking up from the man. "Be careful."

He gave her a brief nod. "You too."

Chrom did what he could to get civilians out of their burning homes. Some, namely those who lived on higher floors, tended to be trapped by burning debris. With help from the men of the house they were able to get their loved ones out safely.

The blue haired man guided the old woman into the arms of her son. The poor woman was stuck upstairs as the home burned away. Her young grandsons sobbed into the hem of her skirt, the whole experience must have been terrible for them, with or without the risk of their grandmother dying horribly. The woman ignored the burns to her hands and hugged the children close to her whispering comforting words into their ears.

The family slowly filed away, the father carried his two boys, while his wife lead the old woman by the shoulders. The heart of the town was near-disserted, save from a few of the bandits, pillaging homes, and taking what they could.

Chrom's breath was caught in his throat when he felt something barrel into him at full force. He was thrown back a few inches before he and his attacker landed on the cobblestone. Chrom prompted himself up by one arm and looked over his shoulder with the full intention to retaliate against his attacker. He caught himself as soon as he saw the white hair and the purple eyes on their coat sleeves. With one hand Anali pushed her hair out of her eyes. She was panting, sweat beaded down her brow; she had herself prompted up with one arm. Something in her arm caught Chrom's eye, it was a yellow book with gold markings on the cover. Was that a magic tome?

A metallic _clang_ caught Chrom's attention. By Anali's feet an axe landed on the ground. Chrom would have been it's intended target had Anali not acted. Immediately Anali got onto her knees, opened her tome, and tossed her free hand in the direction of the axe-wielding bandit. Orange-yellow ruins circled around her hand, and before the bandit could act, volts of electricity struck the man in the chest, hurtling him onto the ground.

Anali snapped her tome closed, she glanced at Chrom. "Sorry," she said, still trying to catch her breath, "there wasn't really any time for tact…"

"Given what could have been, I won't complain much," Chrom said, getting back up. Helping Anali onto her feet he eyed the yellow book she held close to her chest. "You can use magic?"

"Apparently," said Anali. She lifted her cloak, revealing a sword and money pouch secured at her side. "Guess this thing has a few surprises in it."

Chrom grinned; he was almost tempted to correct Anali, it certainly wasn't her _cloak_ that had a few surprises in it. Instead, he grabbed Anali by the arm, and pulled her into his chest. She was about to shout harsh words at him, until Chrom held his sword out in front of them, protecting them both from a swordsman's attack.

The sword reflected off Falchion, and Chrom immediately sprinted to the brigand, Anali followed close behind still clutching onto her tome. The blue haired man slashed his sword against the ruffian who was then blown back by Anali's Thunder spell. "They're not that strong," Anali said, hugging her tome close to her. "Their armor is fairly weak, so, really, they should go down with one good hit in the back or mid-section."

Furrowing his brow Chrom looked straight at Anali. "You got all that with one look?" he asked her.

The white haired woman shrugged. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Not to me, it isn't."

Anali hugged her tome tighter and tried to hide under her collar again. She did not quite understand why Chrom was so intrigued by this information. It was not as though Anali did something that was _so_ spectacular. Anyone could have figured it out.

It was just as Anali had said. These bandits were not well armed, nor did they have the strength to match Chrom and Frederick. What's more is that there were so few of them. Had they started out as such, or did the villagers actually succeed in slaying a few?

The pair found Frederick, who had successfully struck down several bandits with a swift movement from his lance. Chrom explained Anali's observation to him, but he seemed hesitant to take any advice from her. She understood why he was a little hostile towards her, but now was not the time to argue her case. "These guys seem to be armatures," said Anali "if we can find the leader, and take him out, the others will probably surrender or flea for their lives. But with that said, I'd be willing to bet that their leader is the strongest."

Chrom crossed his arms over his chest. That did make a little sense, if they were really as weak as Anali said, then they probably were not all that experienced. And, with that in mind, it would be safe to say that their leader was the only contender amongst these bandits. The problem was that he was most likely hiding behind his men. Cowardice, no doubt

The three of them continued through the town, cutting down bandits who attacked, dwindling their numbers. The deeper they got into the town, the less bandits they came across. And then they made their way to the church courtyard.

Sure enough, the bands leader had set up a sort of base there. And, sure enough, he hid behind his men. The townsmen fought against them as best as they could, but they were inexperienced, they were struck down like tall grass in the way.

The man Anali had to presume was their leader did have a muscular built to him, with a large axe in his possession. There were three other's in his band, two carrying axes and one wielding a like green tome. Anali motioned at herself and Chrom, then at the three mooks. She gestured at the band leader, then to Frederick, asking him if he could handle the guy. When both Frederick and Chrom gave Anali a sign of approval the white haired woman tried to motion for them to hit them all at once. But her way to convey this was to have the tips of her fingers meet with the open palm on her opposite hand. This looked more like a wave crashing into shore.

Seeing the men's confusion Anali mouthed slowly, _'All at once.'_ She pointed at Frederick, then held up five fingers. _'Give us five seconds.'_

Taking in a deep breath, Anali opened her tome, keeping it balanced it in one hand. She followed close behind Chrom as they ran out into the open. He clashed blades with one of the brutes. The second axe-wielding man swung at Chrom, he was blown to the side by Anali's Thunder spell. She, herself, was suddenly blown off her feet. The bandit's mage had cast a Wind spell at her.

A shrill whinny echoed as Frederick road out into the open on his mare. The leader started shouting for his subordinates to counter attack, _now_. The bandit's mage snapped open his tome. Gritting her teeth, Anali quickly got onto her knees and hugged her open tome close to her. Electricity formed in her free hand; she got onto her feet and stepped forward, driving the volt into the mage's side. The man gasped before he fell to the ground, bleeding out in front of her.

Chrom fought off against the axe-welding mook with fluid movements, let it be blocking with his blade, or dodging the swinging axe. However, with both of them attacking him at once, it was difficult for Chrom to land a blow on either of them. Anali grabbed the fallen mage's Wind tome, and opened it. The orange ruins circled around her hand as the spell knocked the ruffian off his feet, and his axe a few yards away from him.

Quickly, Chrom slashed the man in the side, he cried out as blood seeped out of the fresh wound. The man was about to shout curses at Chrom, but Chrom drove the blade into the mans abdomen. The mans eyes rolled back into his head as he slumped over.

"Damn you!" the remaining bandit shouted. He got onto his knees and reached for his axe, but he would never grab it.

Chrom drove his sword into the man; pulling it back out, the man collapsed. One left. A cry caught both of their attentions, Frederick had drove his lance all the way through the leader's chest. Readjusting his grip on the weapon, Frederick pulled it out effortlessly. The leader dropped dead; it was over.

The town was safe.

* * *

The fires across town were successfully put out. Some of the homes and shops were saved with minor damage, but others were not as fortunate. The townsfolk had already gotten together, devising restoration plans; the injured were cared for by a medic team lead by Lissa. She all but demanded to know what happened, and when Anali had showed up. "Wow, Anali!" Lissa gushed when Chrom had finished recounting events. "Sounds like you were really on top of things."

"You're certainly no helpless victim," Chrom agreed, "that much is for sure. The Shepherds could use someone like you."

"Oh, yeah!" Lissa agreed. "Anali would fit in perfectly!"

"Wait…" the woman said weakly, "don't I get a say in this?"

The siblings simply stared at her. Had she just said something wrong? Had she insulted them? "Of course you do," Chrom said kindly, "it's not forced upon you. But, the Shepherds would welcome someone of your tactical talents."

Anali cocked a brow in confusion. All three of them, Chrom, Frederick, and Lissa, had mentioned the 'Shepherds' several times. But the first thing that Anali imagined was, naturally, the three of them herding sheep. However, she realized fairly quick that that wasn't what Chrom and the others did. The armor and weapons sort of tipped her off. But Anali had come to the conclusion that they were something like the local authorities or at least something akin to that.

With that in mind, Anali started second, third, and fourth guessing the offer. How could she with no past and no idea of where she was or what was going on, fit in with this group? Realizing this, Anali rubbed one arm. "I don't know…"

"I don't need an answer right away, but I would like one," Chrom said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "But I do believe we could all benefit from your abilities.

"Milord," Frederick said, dismounting his horse, "did you notice? The brigands spoke with a Plegian accent."

"Plegian?" Anali repeated. That was the second word that kept popping up that day. "What's that?"

Frederick peered at Anali; she felt like he was trying to bear a hole right through her chest with one glare alone. As though she would crack and spill her guts under enough pressure. "Plegia is Ylisse's western neighbor," Chrom explained, "they send small bands into out territory, hoping to instigate war."

"And it's the poor townsfolk who suffer most from it," Lissa said, hugging herself.

Casting her eyes downward, Anali peered at the mark on the back of her hand; the mark Frederick identified as Plegian. "And you believe I could have been one of these instigators," she said eyeing Frederick.

"It is nothing against you personally," said Frederick. He outstretched one arm, gesturing to Southtown. "But you've seen the damage they are capable of."

Anali just nodded. "Your skepticism is understandable, and justified."

She knew full well that her story was ridiculous. Anali knew how this must have looked from an outsiders perspective. Of course anyone dressed in foreign garb, and a mark on her hand would be deemed suspicious. Who in there right mind wouldn't find it all odd? "But I promise," Anali looked back up, "none of this holds any resonance with me."

"Frederick, she fought to save Ylissean lives," Chrom said, keeping his sight on the brown haired man "and may have very well saved mine, or at least prevented serious injury. My heart says that's enough."

"And your mind, milord?" Frederick countered. "Will you not heed it's counsel as well?"

"Anali is able to size up enemies with one look, and she came up with the plan that won us the day, we could use someone of her talents. And I believe her story, as odd as it might be."

"As do I!" Lissa spoke up with a hand in the air. "Frederick, Anali had plenty of opportunities and the skill to have done something by now if she was against us."

"All the same," sighed Frederick, "I would prefer to approach this with caution."

Anali bit the inside of her cheek, she felt a little disheartened. She utterly loathed her situation and really began to wonder if joining the Shepherds really would be good for all involved. While Frederick had not been violent towards her for her possible origins, there was no guarantee everyone would be like that. Someone could take one look at the mark and turn violent on her in two seconds flat. The last thing Anali wanted was the cause problems for the kind people who found her.

The restorations took up what was left of the day. Anali did what she could to help rebuild, but it was pretty clear that it would take a few days, or even a few more weeks to fully complete the restoration. Her hands felt sore and tender after clearing sites, lugging timber around, and holding beams into place. All the while, she thought about Chrom's offer while she worked and how joining the Shepherds could be beneficial.

Anali had a fairly decent idea of what they did, so she knew it would have been a noble cause, if nothing else. On one hand, Anali could see more of the country, so maybe she might have a better chance at finding someone who knew her before all of this. And perhaps it could give her a roof over her head while she figured herself out.

When things calmed down a bit, Anali looked through everything on her person. There was a large pocket inside her cloak that carried her Thunder tome. That was good to know. She had on a belt that carried a bronze sword in it's sheath. A sword Anali was fairly certain she had no idea how to use, even before she lost her memory. With the tome using magic just sort of came to her. One look at the sword… and Anali got nothing like that. She did not even know how to hold it properly, let alone how to use it. And on the opposite side of her sword, was a pouch with a single golden Sun, fifteen silver Moons, and two copper Stars.

There was very little on her to tell Anali just who she was before she woke up. From these items alone, Anali could tell that she had some skill in magic, carried a sword but didn't know how to use it, and perhaps liked to read. It made Anali sound like she was a traveler of sorts, or maybe even a nomad, but a very ill-prepared one.

No memories of herself, all the reason in the world for distrust, Chrom's offer. It was really beginning to become difficult for Anali to think straight.

With her back leaned against the wall of an unharmed building, Anali ran her hands through her hair. The blood was beginning to rub off, though there was still plenty under her fingernails. She just did not know what to do. "I hope you've been thinking about my offer," Chrom walked up to her. He leaned his back against the wall beside Anali.

Sighing, the woman pushed her bangs back. She could feel the ash and grease clinging to her roots. "I keep going in circles," she admitted.

"As I've said before, I won't force you into anything," he assured her.

"I know… But will everyone really be okay with this?" Anali asked gesturing to herself. "Will everyone, in the Shepherds, _out_ of them, be okay with a woman who's most likely Plegian amongst their numbers? Someone who's most likely from the same country trying to start a war?"

Chrom looked away from the woman he had found just a few hours ago. Of course, it would be wishful thinking to believe that no one would have a problem with this. There would be civilians who would have a problem, and it was possible that some of the Shepherds would have to warm up to the idea in time.

"Anali," Chrom said calmly, "I'd be lying if I said that no one would object to it. There would be problems. But I do believe that if we want peace between our two countries, someone needs to take the first step, no matter how small."

"I'll… I'll take that into consideration…"

Chrom sighed. In the end it was her decision. He could not, and would not force anything upon her. "Come on," he clapped her on the shoulder, "we're about to head off."

"Where are we going?" asked Anali.

"Ylisstol," Chrom explained. "The capital city."

* * *

Night had fallen before they ever made it to Ylisstol, much to Lissa's dismay. While the innkeeper in Southtown offered them stay for the night, Chrom and Frederick declined. Lissa complained, pointing out that it would be dark soon. And she was right. "Told you!" Lissa complained loudly swatting at bugs. "It's already dark. I can hardly see two inches in front of my nose. And the bugs are already out!"

"It's not that bad," Anali said swatting a few bugs away from her face with a sour expression.

"'Not that bad?'" Lissa repeated, she begin thrashing about, her arms were held close to her chest. "The disgusting, noisy bugs that buzz around, crawl all over, and bite are 'not that bad?' Eh! No thank you!"

"Come on now, Lissa," Chrom chided playfully, "hardship builds character."

"Yeah, well between this and walking earlier I think I've built up _quite_ enough character for one day."

A loud gurgling sound rumbled from Anali's belly. All eyes turned to her; the woman's expression dropped as a blush appeared on her face. Giggling weakly, Anali placed one hand on her stomach, trying, and failing to silence it. Embarrassed, she rubbed the back of her neck with the other hand. "I suppose some hunting and gathering is in order," Frederick teased with a smirk. He peered back at the group a hand. "Now, who wants to clear the campsite?"

Lissa puffed her cheeks and pouted. "Come on, Lissa," Anali said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "I'll help clear the campsite out."

"Fine…" moaned Lissa.

Frederick marked the campsite and the girls cleared out the area while Frederick hunted, and Chrom got firewood. Anali mostly followed Lissa's instructions as she really didn't know what she was doing. It just told Anali that she had probably never been camping before.

They both had to cringe when Frederick returned with a couple of dead rabbits, though Anali found it in her to just grin in bare it. She helped Chrom skin the animals while Frederick made the fire. Anali lost track of the skins, though she assumed either Chrom or Frederick had them stowed away somewhere. They were in pretty good condition and could have made a fine pillow.

The roar of the fire and scent of cooking meat was enough to drive Anali crazy with hunger. "Is it a wise idea to have a fire going like this while it's dark out?" she asked. "It seems like an open invitation for bandits or wild animals."

"You say that after seeing how we handled brigand's in Southtown?" Chrom countered. "I would think it's safe to assume we'll be fine."

Anali's head bobbed from left to right, an odd nod of agreement. Another growl rumbled from her stomach.

Her mouth was watering something fierce by the time the meat was deemed edible. Anali may as well have been replaced with a fierce predator once she sunk her teeth into it. Chrom tore off a bit of rabbit for himself when he looked up at Lissa. His sister had hardly touched it. "What's wrong, Lissa?" he asked. "Dig in."

"Think I'll pass," said Lissa. She peered over at Frederick, who had hardly eaten anything either. "Couldn't you have speared us something people normally eat for once? I can't eat something so cute and soft I just want to cuddle it! Isn't that right, Anali?" No response. "Anali?"

There where a few grunts and slurps coming from Anali who devoured her meat with vigor. Her face suddenly paled, her eyes widened as she started to beat her fist against her chest. Chrom almost reached out for Anali when she started to take a few deep breaths in. She caught her breath, and looked up at the three with a sheepish grin.

Lissa sighed. "I guess a person would enjoy just about anything after not eating for days…"

"Just eat it, Lissa," said Chrom, "meat is meat."

"How could you make me eat something as cute as a bunny?!" the blonde girl exclaimed.

"Every experience makes us stronger, milady," chided Frederick. "Even those we don't enjoy."

"Really?" Lissa countered with a raised eyebrow. "Is that why I don't see you eating anything, Frederick?"

"I had a large lunch, milady," Frederick replied coolly.

"Yeah right!"

"Fine," sighed Chrom. He waved his hand once. "Go without anything tonight. Just don't complain about an empty stomach in the morning."

"Fine by me," Lissa said, folding her hands into her lap. A sickening gurgle came from Anali's belly. The woman held her stomach, fighting the urge to throw up. "But, from where _I_ stand, it's not _my_ stomach you should be worrying about in the morning."

* * *

**Authors Note: **W00T!

Okay, before we end here, I'd like for everyone to know, that I've got a writing blog on Tumblr, where I will be more than willing to answer any question (provided there's no risk of spoilers) there regarding any of my fan fictions (I'm hoping to have a second new story up within a few days to a few weeks). The URL is **sammiewritesstuff**, there's a link on my homepage. When I've got thing's organized there, you will eventually find a few tidbits, headcanons, and other goodies, so, feel free to drop by. And yes, you can ask anonymously.


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two  
An Unwelcome Change**

Anali's eyes snapped open when she felt the ground rumble furiously beneath her. If it wasn't the tremors that woke her, it certainly would have been the shrill cries from Frederick's horse. Frederick was already up and trying to calm the beast down; however, there was no sign of either Chrom or Lissa. "They couldn't have gotten far," she heard Frederick mutter to himself. He mounted the mare and stared down at Anali. "Get on."

She wasn't quite sure why, but Anali panicked at the thought of riding a horse. They were powerful creatures, so perhaps that was why she was a little intimidated by this one mare. It was reasonable enough, given how the mare had started panicking moments before. "You go on ahead," Anali said weakly, "I'll catch up."

"Not in all of _this,_ you won't," Frederick said, pulling Anali onto the mare behind him. "Loath as I am to admit it, we're better off sticking together."

Anali yelped when the mare took off into a full gallop, her hands wrapped around Frederick's solar plexus while they traveled. Her heart pounded in her chest, and cold sweat was beading on her brow. She was apprehensive; there was a ferocious earthquake, she was on horseback, and Chrom and Lissa were missing. Nothing overwhelming about this.

The horse skirted to a stop as a wave of molten lava rose into the air; balls of fire rained down upon the forest. Tree leaves and bristles caught fire and the blaze quickly spread before they knew it. Frederick urged his horse to take a left. The mare barreled through the forest until they came to a very steep ledge. With wide eyes, Anali looked from the ledge to Frederick and back; she knew just what he was planning. "We're not actually going to-?!"

"Do you have a better idea?" Frederick asked without looking at her. "Believe me, I would _love_ to hear one."

Anali bit her lower lip. No. No, she did not have a better idea. It was either this, or burn up with the forest. Seeing this, Frederick clicked his tongue, the mare took off again; she leapt off the ledge and landed on a downhill slope. Anali's grip on Frederick tightened as they slid downhill. Coming to even ground, the horse trotted off until Frederick pulled back on the reigns and they came to a complete stop. "Is she okay?" Anali asked. She could feel her hands shaking, but she could not tell you if it was because of her nerves, or because of her grip on Frederick's waist.

"Not to worry," said Frederick. He petted his mare on the neck; had the situation not have been dire it would have almost been boastful. "It will take a bit more than that to get Hermia down."

They continued down the path; the sky was filled with smoke and embers, like the burning forest had spread to the sky above them. A bright, white light shown through the trees. Frederick instructed the horse to follow the direction of the light. It really was not much to go by, after all there was no guarantee that Lissa and Chrom would be there. But it was the only lead they had.

They came to a clearing where Lissa and Chrom stood with a figure in blue. They were surrounded by soldiers, grotesque and awkwardly moving; they reminded Anali of a rotting corpse. "Milord! Milady!" Frederick exclaimed urging his horse to a stop. Anali was the first of the pair to dismount; she nearly fell flat on her face in the process. "Are you hurt?"

"Frederick! Anali!" Lissa breathed out. She reached out and grabbed Anali by the forearms, she leaned in slightly so that Anali had to keep her from falling over. But the blonde was wide-eyed, and clearly shaking, Anali had to wonder what happened on their end.

Anali's eyes were locked on the corpse-like creatures. They looked like any armed soldier, if those soldiers had pasty, dark grey skin. The soldier's moved so unnaturally it would have been a wonder if there were any bones in their bodies at all. Strained cries emerged from their throats; they sounded more animal, than human, a black haze emitted from their mouths. "These creatures wouldn't be commonplace in Ylisse, would they?" asked Anali with a weak grin.

"No, they're not," Chrom replied, tightening his grip on his blade, "I can promise you that."

"So no one is injured?" Frederick asked when his first question was left unanswered. "Thank the gods…"

"Thank the masked boy who saved me," Lissa corrected. She pulled away from Anali, her usual chipper attitude was back once more. Was that a good thing? "If it wasn't for him I'd be…" Lissa's voice trailed off. She scanned the area, but the boy with the mask wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Where'd he go?" the blonde girl asked disappointed.

"We can worry about him later," Frederick said, his eyes focused on the corpse-like creatures, "_after_ we put these… things to the blade. Now, eyes open, we know nothing about this enemy."

"Which mean's we'll want Lissa close by," Anali said, removing her sword from its sheath; it felt heavy and awkward in her hand. "They look stronger, and better armed than the brigand's in Southtown so it'll take more than one good hit. _Maybe_."

"So, basically," Chrom said, removing his own sword from its sheath, "don't push your luck if you've been hit."

"Pretty much, yes."

Frederick and Hermia were the first to make a move towards one of the living corpses. His lance cut through the creatures body like a hot knife through butter. While the two exchanged blows, Chrom and Anali broke apart from their little group. Anali, still having no idea what to do with her sword, so she just swung it at one of the corpse-like beings like the village idiot with a stick. She only managed to knick the thing in the arm before it swung it's axe at her.

Anali narrowly dodged the axe enough so that it just grazed her sleeve. Then, without thinking it through, Anali plunged her sword into the corpses mid-section. There was a long, agonizing moment where the two just stared at each other, ignoring the chaos around them. The corpse looked at Anali with it's arms hanging at its side, and Anali, with her hands wrapped around the hilt of the sword, stared stupidly at the corpse. When she tried to pull the sword out it hardly budged an inch.

The corpse came back to its senses and raised its axe high above its head. Squeezing her eyes shut, Anali lifted her sword with as much strength as she could muster. She lifted with her legs, guiding the blade up she managed to slice through the corpse with as much effort as she could hope to gather. When the sword cut through the creature entirely, Anali nearly fell over without the force of the creature fighting against her.

The creature let out an odd, strained cry before it dissolved into black and purple smoke. Anali decided that that was enough swordplay for the moment, she would just stick with her tome from here on out. "I'd learn to _use_ that sword before going into battle next time!" Anali heard over the _trot, trot _of hooves.

A woman pulled back on her horses reigns as she drove her lance through the neck of one of the corpse-like creatures. She had red hair done in a boyish cut; she had with red and silvery armor on her person. At first glance, she definitely looked like a woman not to take anything from anyone, man _or_ woman. "Captain Chrom!" the woman called looking into the battlefield.

Several yards away, Chrom drew his arm back after beheading the corpse he was battling against. He glanced up in the direction of the voice to find the red haired woman. "Sully! Good timing," beamed Chrom, "we could use another set of hands here."

"You're one of the Shepherds, I presume?" Anali asked looking up at the woman.

The woman looked down at her with a cocked eyebrow. "Who're you?"

"Ah… I'm, eh… Anali," she stuttered, "I-I just…"

"Don't take your eyes off the enemy!" barked Sully.

Startled, Anali looked behind her, one of the corpses was hobbling in her direction. Panicked, she swiped out the tome from her cloak and tossed her hand forward. A volt of electricity threw the corpse back. "Milady!" a man with the most peculiar accent called in a sing-song tone.

A tall dandy with long blue hair emerged from the forest. He had a quiver of arrows strapped onto his back and a pauldron and couter on his left arm. The man was clearly a bit older than either Sully or Anali; he looked to be a bit out of breath at the moment. Despite this, he was trying his darndest to keep an air of charisma.

"Oh, great," Sully mumbled. She glared at the blue-haired man. "I thought I lost you a mile ago."

"Life maybe long but this attraction is fleeting!" the man rattled on, ignoring the chaos in front of him. "Leave war to the warriors, dear bird! A beauty such as you need wage only love."

"Friend of yours?" Anali asked tossing a Thunder spell at an approaching corpse.

"Pfft! Hardly!" snapped Sully throwing her lance at another walking cadaver.

"The ladies are intrigued?" the man chuckled, impressed with himself. "Of course you are - it is only natural. I am a myth and legend! I am he who strides large across histories greatest stage! My name, dear ladies, is Vi-"

"You're an archer, right?" Anali interrupted, blasting at another walking cadaver. When it hit the ground, she turned towards the blue-haired archer, she hugged her tome close to her. "Are you any good?"

"_Virion!_" the man shouted. His suave was gone and quickly replaced with irritation. "My name is Virion!"

"Alright, _Virion_, are you a good archer?"

Virion's eyes glared at Anali, who was wondering if she had just insulted him. He held his bow tight in his grip and retrieved an arrow from his quiver. Anali's heart was in her throat when Virion took aim straight at her. She opened her tome and held it close, she readied herself; if this man fired at her to prove a point, then…

To her surprise however, the arrow flew past Anali's cheek, just close enough so that she could feel a small gust of wind. She heard a strained cry behind her, then peered over her shoulder. The walking corpse Anali had blasted back with her spell had gotten back onto it's feet and was ready to attack once more. Virion's arrow penetrated into it's skull, right between its red, sunken in eyes.

"I would think so," Virion replied coolly with a smirk.

"Okay," Anali squeaked out. Clearing her throat, she tapped her chest with her fist a couple of times. "Actually this could work out. I mean since you're here you might as well help. Virion, I want you to team up with Lissa. She's more or less defenseless right now."

"What do you take me for?" Virion asked, flicking a lock of hair out of his face. "Some barbari-"

"Hey!" Sully snapped. She grabbed Virion by the back of his collar and lifted him up so that he was standing on the balls of his feet. "_You_ followed me all the way here! _You_ may as well help."

"Sully," Anali said, snatching the red haired woman's attention, "I want you to stay by the fields borders, we don't want any of these things to get to Southtown."

"Right," Sully uttered. Releasing Viron she urged her horse forward right towards a corpse that was about to step over the border.

It was arguably a good thing that these creatures disintegrated when they reached their limit. Had that not been the case, odds were the field would have been a bloody mess. Sully and Virion stayed where they were instructed as Chrom, Frederick, and Anali battled against the creatures in the field. If someone was injured to the point of bleeding, Lissa was quickly at their side with her healing staff.

Anali wiped the sweat from her brow, and looked down at her tome. It's pages were already running low, and fast. There had to be away to get these creatures to retreat somehow. If their leader was taken out then the subordinates should fall back, hopefully. Did they have a leader though? They would have to be the largest of the lot, one that just oozed with intimidation. An alpha.

And there he was. The tallest of the corpsey creatures. Strong limbs, a metallic face, and wild black hair that cascaded down it's back. That was it. It had to be. Anali slid her book into the internal pocket of her cloak and whipped out her sword. She still did not quite know how to use it, but Anali got the feeling that this guy needed more than just basic magic.

She ran towards the creature with her sword held out at her side. Maybe, with this running start, Anali could get in a lucky hit. Just enough to injure it. Three feet away from the creature, Anali drew her arm back, then thrust it forward, the tip of the blade pierced through the creature's chest. She pulled out the sword, not quite sure what to expect now.

The creature clutched onto it's tomahawk and stared straight at Anali. She stood her ground, hand clinging onto her sword for dear life, but then she saw a flash of blue and white out of the corner of her eye. Chrom sprinted past her, and faced off against the creature before it could thrown its weapon. He got in a good strike, instantly the creatures being started to twitch before it disappeared into smoke and haze. "Sorry," Chrom said, sliding his sword back into it's sheath, "was that one yours?"

"No. No, no, no, no," Anali said quickly. She held up a hand for further emphasis. "_All yours_. I-I…" She gestured to her sword with her free hand, and said with a very weak laugh, "I've no idea what I'm doing with this thing…"

Chrom smirked playfully. "Well, your sword play does indeed need work," he agreed. "If you do say yes, we'll work on it before you ever go into battle."

"Okay," Anali nodded. "Great."

The fires subdued, and early morning was beginning to peek out over the horizon. As Anali predicted, the creatures dropped like flies after their leader was gone. If not outright dead, they fled into the forest, meaning they were still alive - if one could call it that - so they were still a threat.

"I came to scout the area," Sully explained. She had dismounted her horse and was petting him on the muzzle. "Ran into Fopleroy here on the outskirts of Yilsstol. Thought I lost him a while back, but alas. I wasn't expecting to see you here, Captain."

"Thank the gods you did," said Chrom, "I'm not sure how we could have faired without the extra help." He turned to Virion. "You're shooting is quite impeccable."

"You flatter me, sir," Virion said placing a gloved hand over his heart.

"We could use someone of your skill among our numbers."

"Ah, what?!" Sully shouted in protest. She jerked her thumb at the blue haired dandy. "This womanizing pervert?"

The gesture Virion had given Chrom as a sign of respect suddenly turned melodramatic. Virion's slender face paled and his hand gripped the fabric over his heart. "Your words stab, milady," Virion said through a strained voice. "Have I not proven my worth?"

"You followed me into the forest," Sully said flatly.

"Hey, he saved our hides by showing up," Lissa defended. She glanced over at Sully, adding, "And he was hovering over me the whole time, and stayed a good three feet away from me. I'd hardly call that perverted."

In the end Virion took Chrom up on his offer. Sully, with Virion, returned to Ylisstol ahead of them to report all that happened in the forest. Sully was not entirely thrilled about riding horseback with Virion, but did not argue and took it as stoically as possible.

Shortly after they had left, Frederick returned to Chrom's side, with a boy in blue close by him. The boy was thin, in blue clothing with gold accents, the fabric looked quite sturdy, yet very fine; it must have cost a fortune. The boy's hair was also blue, with a gold tiara at the crown, or maybe it was just a really fancy headband. Over his eyes was a blue and gold mask in the shape of a butterfly; with the mask on it was near impossible to find any other distinguishing feature on the boy.

But to Anali, even with the mask hiding his eyes, the boy looked like he could have been about Lissa's age. Maybe just a little bit younger as his skin looked so soft and clear. It was obvious that he had never needed to shave before.

"It seems nearly all the creatures were vanquished," Fredrick informed. He gestured to the blue-haired boy. "This young man took care several others before they could get too far, but we have lost sight of some of them."

"I never got to thank you for before," Lissa said, taking a step towards the boy. She kept her hands behind her back and carried a bright smile on her face. "So… thank you. You were very brave."

"My name is Chrom," her brother introduced, "might I ask yours?"

The boy was silent for a moment before he answered, "You may call me Marth."

Anali could tell the name meant something to Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick, judging by the looks on their faces. The siblings actually dropped their mouths open slightly, while Frederick's brow shot up. The name, however did not mean anything to Anali, not the way it did to these three. But she did feel like she may have heard it from somewhere, though where she had no idea. "After the heroic king of old?" Chrom asked the boy, breaking the silence.

Okay then, so Marth was an old legend or story. That might explain where Anali could have heard the name. Chrom continued with a smile, "Well, you certainly fight like a hero. Where did you learn your way with a sword?"

"I'm not here to talk about me," Marth said briskly. "This world is teetering on the brink of calamity. What you saw here tonight was just the prelude."

"What?" questioned Anali. "You're going to have to elaborate further on that."

Marth shook his head. "I've already said enough for now." Turning around on his heel, he walked off a few meters before he peered over his shoulder. With the mask on his face, he looked very calm and natural. "You have been warned."

The young man continued on his way, ignoring the burnt up grass at his feet, and the rising clouds of smoke. He disappeared into the forest off to parts unknown. When Marth had fully disappeared, well out of earshot, Lissa spoke up, "Chrom, what did he mean by that?"

"I couldn't tell you, Lissa," replied Chrom. "But it sounds like we'll learn soon enough."

"The guy's really not one for conversation is he?" Anali asked, rubbing the back of her neck. What the heck was that? If Marth wanted to be helpful he wouldn't have been vague as all hell.

"No," Frederick agreed, "it would appear his skills lay elsewhere. But, I wager we'll hear his name again. I, however, am more concerned about the capital. We should make haste."

* * *

It was well into the day by the time the four arrived in Ylisstol. A bright, beautiful city with people bustling around going about their daily needs or simply talking with old friends. Anali must have looked out of place in a bright city like this, like a country bumpkin. No, she looked worse than a country bumpkin, she was dressed in foreign garb and looked positively filthy. While the blood on her skin had rubbed away, for the most part, her clothes still bore the bloodstains. She imagined she looked like a homeless street urchin who was trying to hide the murder she just committed.

However Anali could have been arrested right then and there and she would not have caredin the slightest. There were so many sights and people around her, Anali just wanted to stand and gawk, surely Ylisstol's prison cell would have been a marvel to look at too. Anali felt a little bubbly, excitement even. Her smile was bold, wide enough to split her face in two;she just wanted to explore the city, but that would have to wait. She needed to keep up with her rescuers.

"It would appear the capital was spared of the chaos we endured," observed Frederick. After they entered the city he had dismounted Hermia and was leading her by the reigns. "The quake must have been limited to the forest. Thank the gods."

"Well, that's a relief!" Lissa said with a skip in her step.

The townsfolk suddenly begin pushing against each other, they crowed up before the palace gates. When the gate swung open, the crowd parted. A blonde woman in green robes rode out on a white horse. She was guarded at all sides by armed soldiers on horseback and a pegasus from miles above. "Is that the Exalt?" asked Anali.

"Yes," Frederick replied with an earnest smile, "her name is Lady Emmeryn."

"And she's your ruler, yes? Is it really safe for her to be out in public like this?"

"The Exalt is a symbol of peace," Frederick explained, his smile was beginning to grow with each word, "Ylisse's most prized quality. Long ago, at the dawn of our age, the fell dragon tried to destroy the world. But the first Exalt, Orev, joined forces with the Divine Dragon and laid the beast low. Exalt Emmeryn reminds us of the peace we fought for."

"And with Plegia at our borders, the people need her," Chrom added, "she's a calming presence when other's might call for war."

Anali remained silent to soak in Frederick and Chrom's words. After seeing the brigand attack, it did seem little wonder that there would be those who would want to go to war against Plegia. And with the threat Marth warned of just hours ago times were about to get darker. It must have taken a lot of inner strength to hold onto your morals like that. To simply _be_ a symbol of peace seemed unfathomable to Anali. "She sounds amazing," Anali said with a soft smile, "the people of Ylisse are very blessed to have her."

"Uh-huh!" Lissa nodded in agreement. "She's also the best big sister anyone could ask for!"

"Yes," Anali agreed with a sunny smile, "I suppose - Wait, _what?_" Her expression dropped, she replayed Lissa's words over and over in her head. She looked from Chrom and Lissa, to the Exalts retreating figure, then back to the siblings. "She's your…?" she asked the implications of Lissa's words made her rethink everything within the last twenty-four hours. "B-but wouldn't that make you and Chrom…?"

"The prince and princess of the realm, yes," Frederick said with an amused smile. "You remember Chrom's name, but not this?"

"_You said you were shepherds!_" Anali snapped. She clapped her hands over her mouth, silently cursing herself for raising her voice. She didn't mean to yell but it came out louder than she had wanted.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," said Chrom. He appeared to be unaffected by Anali's sudden outburst, if nothing else, he saw the humorous side of it, as Frederick had. "We just tend to a _lot_ of sheep."

Anali kept her hands over her mouth. With the way Frederick behaved around Chrom and Lissa, Anali simply presumed that they were the children of a lord, or at least someone with a high rank. But the prince and princess?! When Anali thought about it there were a lot of things between waking up and this very moment that really should have tipped her off. How in Naga's name did Anali not see it sooner?

"Chrom!" Anali blurted out. She slapped her hands over her mouth again, it was still louder than she had wanted. Why couldn't she control herself all of the sudden? "_Prince_ Chrom, sire! P-please forgive my ignorance. I-I've been so… so… I-I-I…" Defeated, Anali buried her face into her hands. Her cheeks felt warm against her palms, if she were any warmer and her skin just might burn. "Please just cut me down now…"

Her eyes were squeezed shut refusing to reopen, especially since Lissa was insistent on giggling like a madwoman. However, the clap on her shoulder took Anali by surprise, which was just enough to make her look up at him. Chrom appeared to have had himself a good chuckle over Anali's minor breakdown. Good to know some people found her misfortune funny.

"Just Chrom is fine," he reassured her with a squeeze of the shoulder."I've never been one for formalities." He looked back towards the street, the people had gone back to their business, and the Exalt was nowhere to be found. "It looks like Emm's returned to the palace. Would you like to meet her?"

"Um…"

"Oh, yeah!" Lissa said. She placed her hands on Anali's back and started to push her down the road. "Wait till you meet her yourself!"

Anali did not say anything… out loud at least. But everything inside her was just screaming, _'NO, NO, NO, NO, NOOOOO!'_

* * *

On the palace grounds Anali was completely overcome with the need to turn and run, but somehow, for better or worse she fought back the urge. The four were greeted with the occasional 'milord' or 'milady' directed at Chrom and Lissa as they past soldiers and other servants. Anali felt as though their eyes were on her, the foreigner who may as well have been rolling around in dirt and pigs blood for the last three days. Couldn't they have allowed her to be drenched in water first? Wash off the blood and grime? This was a place so elegant and fine; Anali was quite certain she would spoil something in the palace by just looking at something.

She tried to make herself look somewhat presentable by running her hands through her hair, but her fingers were quickly caught in knots. Anali tried pulling at them, however it only made the whole thing worse. She imagined she looked like the butcher's mad daughter, just the type of person to be meeting someone as respectable as the Exalt.

"Anali," Chrom said, coming to a stop. He walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "_Relax_. I promise, we're not uppity people."

"_You're_ not. Fine," Anali said shaking her head, "but what of everyone else? Would they be okay working alongside some homeless woman who is, most likely, from the very country trying to instigate war?" Biting the inside of her cheek, Anali thought back to the previous day. How Chrom pretty much said that if there were to ever be peace between the two countries, someone needed to take the first step. "You think we could be that first step?" She shook her head, unable to decide if Chrom was having delusions of grandeur, or if there really was something to this. "I do not wish to cause you any trouble for all of this…"

"You won't, Anali," the blue-haired man reassured her. "There will be challenges, yes. Not everyone will be okay with a Plegian in our borders or with the Shepherds. But I am willing to face those challenges if you are."

"_Why _though?"

"Because I believe something good can come from this. Because I believe you can find a place with us. If you cannot find family or friends, you can always have the Shepherds."

Anali blinked. She never really thought about what she might do if she could not find someone, friend or family, who knew her. She may as well have been a homeless woman who would have done anything for money. Chrom wanted her for her skills, yes, but he was also offering her a possible future. Someplace to rest during the night, a roof over her head. He was offering this to a complete stranger who could have been lying, who could have been planning something dubious. "You are either a truly good man, or a truly foolish one," Anali said quietly.

"Amazing how often those two lines cross," chuckled Chrom.

She sighed, "I suppose I am willing to face those challenges, too. I would be honored to call myself a Shepherd."

"And we would be honored to have you."

Anali smiled awkwardly finding it a little difficult to believe how much had happened within such a short timeframe. Not even two days, that was the extent of Anali's life. She knew more about Chrom than she did about herself. All she really knew was that she had something of a tactical mind. How could she support herself if she declined Chrom's offer? What skill did she have? Really, whether or not Anali was ready and willing to face the challenges to come, she was going to have to.

At the end of the long hallway, the four were met with a beautiful blonde woman, a stern woman with light blue hair pulled back into a tight up-do, and a short man, several decades older than the women at his side. The blonde woman's hair fell over her shoulders in thick curls. She wore the light green and yellow robes of a Sage over her very simple white dress. The Exalt had a very calming presents about her, but what Anali found herself staring at was the mark on her forehead, right between her eyes. It was the same mark Chrom wore on his right shoulder. Did Lissa bear a mark like that? She must have, it obviously meant something to the royal line.

Emmeryn smiled warmly at the sight of her younger siblings. She pulled them each into a tight embrace, which both Chrom and Lissa happily reciprocated. "Welcome home," she greeted. Her voice was just as gentle and pleasant as her appearance. Releasing Lissa, Emmeryn gave Frederick a warm, knowing smile. "And good day, Frederick. I hope they weren't too much trouble."

"No more than usual, Your Grace," Frederick said with a brisk nod.

"How fared you all?"

"We shouldn't have any problems with bandits for a while," Chrom explained.

"Wonderful. And our people?"

"As safe as can be, Emm. But we still need to watch our borders. The brigands crossed over from Plegia."

"Forgive me, milord," the blue-haired woman said, bowing her head, "my Pegasus Knights should have intercepted them."

"No, Phila. Your duty was here with the Exalt."

"However," the older man spoke up while he adjusted his small, round spectacles, "it sound's like we will need to keep a closer eye on our borders. I shall alert the people as soon as possible."

"Take no more precautions than necessary, Traino," said Chrom, "we want to keep the people at ease for as long as possible."

"Besides," Lissa spoke up, her voice was laced with glee, "we had plenty of help."

"Ah, you speak of your new companion, here?" Emmeryn asked, looking up at the white haired woman with a gentle expression.

Anali tried to shrink back into her cloak. She was just beginning to feel comfortable around her rescuers, why did she have to feel so shy now? Her face began to heat up when Chrom placed an arm around Anali's shoulders and ushered her up beside him; precisely so Emmeryn could get a good look at her. "This is Anali," Chrom said, introducing the woman, "she fought bravely with us against the brigands. I've decided to make her a Shepherd."

"It sounds like Yilsse owes you a debt of gratitude, Anali," smiled Emmeryn.

"N-no, not at all, milady," Anali said, holding both hands up in protest, "I-I just…"

"Forgive me, Your Grace, but I must speak up," Frederick cut her off. As soon as Frederick opened his mouth Anali's heart dropped into her stomach. "Anali claims to have lost her memory, but it is only that; a claim. We found her wearing this Plegian garb as you see before you. But what's more, Anali bears the Mark of Grima on the back of her hand."

Chrom's head snapped in the brunettes' direction. "Frederick!" he hissed.

"What?" Traino gasped. "Milord, what possessed you into-"

"Peace, Traino." Emmeryn held up her hand, silencing him. She was eerily calm, which lead Anali to worry. "Chrom, did you ever plan on telling me about this? About the Mark?"

The mark? What was so special about the mark on her hand? If it was Plegian then, yes, Anali could understand why someone would have a problem with it. But no one told her what. This was new to her.

"I…" Chrom struggled to find his words, "I thought we would discuss this privately."

"In other words, avoid the matter all together," said Phila. Chrom grimaced, the Pegasus Knight had pegged him down perfectly.

"Emm," Lissa spoke up, she clung onto Anali's arm, "we both know how this looks, even Anali does. But she's had more than enough opportunities to do something if she was a Plegian spy. And we all know for a fact that _Frederick_ would have been the first person to see it if Anali was up to something."

"Milady," said Phila. Her eyes traveled between the young princess and Anali. "With the precautions we've had to take at our boarders lately, Plegia would _have to _be crafty."

"And, if I may," Traino added, "this amnesia ploy could easily be an act to gain sympathy from Ylisse's prince and princess. If word got out that a Plegian is amongst us, the people would-"

"Please," Anali spoke up. She brushed Chrom's arm off her shoulder and pulled her arm out of Lissa's. "Your Grace, the last thing I want to do is cause problems. I will gladly leave now, if I must."

"No, Anali," Chrom spoke up. He placed both hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "We can work our way around this. This is-"

Emmeryn held her hand up once more, silencing her brother. "If your claims are true," she said to Anali, her voice firm and calm, "and you really have lost your memory, would you really be okay with leaving? You would be all right with living on the streets for who knows how long?"

Anali's hands were balled up in front of her chest. Her left hand covered her right, hiding her mark from the world. "I cannot say I'd be _okay_ with it," she said. "But… your brother and sister have been kind to me. I do not want to cause them any more trouble than necessary."

"You're no trouble, Anali," Chrom said, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders again. "Emm, I've been trying to live by your example, and I believe Anali is a welcomed aspect to the Shepherds, regardless of where she comes from. We cannot hold her responsible for being Plegian anymore than we can hold the sky responsible for being blue or the grass green."

Emmeryn remained quiet while Chrom made his piece; her eyes rested on her brother and Anali all the while. Once Chrom was finished, her eyes fell upon Anali, the woman had shrunk back into her coat, her blush deepened, and she was beginning to pick at her right hand. "May I see?" Emmeryn asked her.

Anali swallowed. Slowly, she removed her left hand, then held up her right, showing the mark, the light purple lines, and the eyes that stared back, to the rest of the world. There was a sudden chill in the air, Phila tried to remain calm, but her flaring nostrils deceived her. Traino looked like he had aged by another twenty years. Emmeryn, on the other hand, remained as still as a statue, aside from her blinking eyes. There was something strangely ethereal about the mark but its meaning was completely lost on Anali's part.

"I cannot say," Emmeryn spoke after a pregnant pause, "that I have heard of Plegians, or even those of the Grimleal bearing such a mark on their bodies. So, I would not have an inkling of who you could have been, given that you're claims are true." Closing her eyes, Emmeryn took in a deep breath. When her eyes reopened, she held her gaze upon her younger brother. "Chrom, you know all of this, yet you allowed her into the palace. Does this woman have your trust?"

"Yes," Chrom said without hesitation, "Anali risked her life to save our people, and may have saved mine, or at least prevented serious injury. That's good enough for me."

Emmeryn's eyes fell back upon Anali once more, and the woman shrank again. "Well, then Anali," the Exalt said calmly. Slowly, she smiled warmly at the woman. "It seems you have earned Chrom's faith and as such, you shall have mine as well."

"Thank you, milady," Anali said breathily.

"However, I would advise you keep your mark hidden. You will have no ill will from me, Chrom, or Lissa, but none of us have any control of our people, or the Shepherds. There are those who will not take kindly to a woman bearing Grima's sigil."

Anali nodded. "I understand."

"Thank you for your prudence, Frederick," Emmeryn told the brown haired man kindly. "Chrom and Lissa are blessed to have so tireless a guardian. I do hope they remember to mention it from time to time."

"They occasionally express _something_ akin to gratitude, Your Grace," sighed Frederick. He looked to Phila. "I assume Sully has informed you about the deathly creatures we encountered, yes?"

"Yes," Phila said with a brisk nod.

"Chrom," Emmeryn spoke up, "we are about to hold counsel. I was hoping you could join us."

"Of course," replied Chrom.

"That's our cue, Anali," Lissa said, locking arms with Anali. "Come on, I'll show you your quarters, and take you to meet the Shepherds."

"Um…" Anali's voice trailed off as she struggled to keep up with Lissa's fast pace. "Okay…"

* * *

The Shepherds garrison was about half a mile away from the palace. It was a circular brick building that, at first glance did not look like much. At least, not to Anali, who could admit that she did not know much. It was pretty simple, the only eye-catching part about the building was one part of the wall with bricks so damaged it looked like someone was trying to dig through the wall to get in. As she and Lissa made their way over to the garrison, Anali could see a handful of partially armed soldiers crossing blades and firing arrows.

"The garrison is something of our home base," Lissa explained as she lead the white haired woman down the dirt path. "They're housed here, train here, eat here. They're given weekly pay. Don't worry we'll get you settled. Unless you happen to have a satchel under that cloak."

"If only," Anali sighed pulling at one sleeve.

"Well, in that case, I'm sure we can find something for you until we get you settled in," said Lissa. She pulled open a wooden door, then gestured for Anali to enter. "The Shepherds are encouraged to donate their old clothes, and I think this months haven't been shipped yet. I'll find something in there."

Lissa lead her down several hallways until they came to the woman's bathing room, much to Anali's delight. Naga bless Lissa, bless her and her sweet heart. At least Anali would not have to look like a mess when meeting the rest of the Shepherds. Anali could have started singing right then and there. "Okay," Lissa said with a clap of her hands. "You get yourself taken care of and I'll see if I can find any spare clothes while your's are being washed."

"All right," Anali said, removing her coat.

She pulled off her boots, then began to fiddle with her belt. She removed her tome, sword, and money pouch, her belt and coat, and placed them a safe distance. Slowly, Anali removed her blood-stained clothing. What the heck was she doing before she lost her memory? Did she kill someone? Hopefully not.

She had to wonder why Chrom was so trusting of her, despite the possibility. Anali could have been some murderer for all any of them knew. What if she was someone undeserving of the royal family's kindness? She could have been one of the last people to need such kindnesses.

Anali shook her head. She would get nowhere by getting herself worked up like this. The concerns she was feeling now may have just been a fabrication of a wild imagination. There was a logical reason for the blood on her clothes, that much she was certain of but worrying about it like this was not going to make her remember any sooner. Right now, she should just enjoy a good bath.

Anali slowly removed her filthy clothes, wondering if she should bother keeping them. She felt a strong desire to keep the coat at least. It was surely a sign of her Plegian origins - or at least her possible origins - but the thought of getting rid of it left a bad taste in her mouth. It felt wrong to just throw it way, it felt like a betrayal.

She would have to worry about that later. Anali scrubbed herself clean of blood, sweat and grime. The water felt soothing against her scratched and bruised skin and her sore muscles. She cleaned her hair of ash and sweat, then went to brush it when she got out of the tub. When it was brushed and dried there was a pleasant shine to it. In a moment of vanity Anali silently swore to herself that she would not allow her hair to get that filthy and matted again. In a similar moment she decided it was one of her best features as it complimented her brown skin.

Lissa returned later with a change of clothes. Various colored fabrics were held against her chest when she returned. Anali had been studying herself in the mirror in a towel by the time Lissa returned. "I kinda had to guess what your size was," Lissa said, placing the clothes with Anali's belongings. "But it should hold you over until you get your stuff clean or go to the market. Whichever comes first."

"All right," Anali smiled, "thank you."

Thankfully, Lissa had chosen more than one set. Anali decided to go through each one, determine what fit the best, then go from there. There were at least two tunics Anali swore were boys tunics, one actually fit pretty well, but Anali could not stand the dark yellow color. The other one had the problem of having a wide collar, which Anali quickly discovered she did not like as she could hardly bend over without spilling her bosom.

In the end, she had chosen a blue-green, sleeveless tunic that went down to her mid thigh that had a long neck. According to Lissa, it was a part of the old Pegasus Knight uniform someone must have held onto. She put on a pair of black slacks that was with the pile Lissa brought her, and kept the boots from her original outfit. Studying herself, Anali looked down at her hands, then rubbed the back of her right hand instinctively. "Where there any gloves?" she asked Lissa.

"Sorry," Lissa shook her head, "I couldn't find any in the donations. B-but we should be able to use riding gloves for now. I'll have to talk to someone about that."

It seemed like there was a lot of 'for nows' as of late. Did Anali have a right to complain about it? Royals or not, she was kind of an inconvenience. "I'm sure no one will notice," Lissa said, reading the discomfort on Anali's face. "_I_ didn't even notice it until Frederick said something about it."

Anali tried to put on a smile. She knew Lissa was trying to be helpful but the only reason she did not notice Anali's mark until Frederick said something was because Anali was covered in blood. Of course Lissa didn't notice it at first, when faced with two deadly snakes and a gold coin you were going to notice the snakes first. But surely someone else would easily notice the purple mark on her skin, especially now that she was cleaned up.

Then she remembered Emmeryn's words, how she had not heard of anyone in Plegia bearing such a mark. Was this and oddity even amongst Plegians? Why did she even want this sigil in the first place? And why on her hand? Surely there were better places for body art. There were just too many questions.

* * *

Thank the gods that turned out the way it did. Chrom wasn't sure why he doubted Emmeryn would accept Anali. His words about both sides needing just one person to bridge the gap, they were more his sisters words than his own. If Chrom were in her shoes they would have marched up to Plegia's capitol and usurped King Gangrel a long ago.

But, that was why Ylisse needed Emmeryn. Chrom would do his duty by keeping the people safe. Ylisse's army had been in shambles since Emmeryn took the throne, everyone knew that a military draft would be out of the question. The last time Ylisse's army took up a draft policy it left so many families broken, and children orphaned. So, Chrom had to lead what little volunteers there were.

The Shepherds would fight back against the bandits, Grangel no doubt encouraged into Ylisseian territory. The Shepherds would keep local bandits under wraps. They would fight against the creatures of this morning, and of the threats Marth warned about. That was Chrom's duty.

By the time they had made it to the counsel hall, the representatives from Ylisse's duchies had already seated at the large, round table. The same faces of men and women Chrom had seen since he started attending counsel meetings when he was fifteen looked up when the group of five entered the hall. Nearly five years since Emmeryn had deemed Chrom old enough to attend counsel meetings and the councilmen had only two changes.

With the rising bandit attacks as of late, it seemed as though counsel was being held more often these days. Some shouted for war and restitution, as Plegia was known for it's wealth. And others wanted more soldiers at the borders. The people wanted _something_ done and soon.

When Chrom entered the hall close beside his sister and Traino, the hierarch, the various Duke's and Duchesses showered Chrom and Frederick with warm greetings, and _'how are you'_ and _'have your Shepherds be giving you a hard time'_ and _'how fare your scouting this time around.'_ And calmly Emmeryn requested that the counsel hold off on their questions until Chrom and Frederick's had completed their report.

So, Chrom recounted the past days events to the councilmen. How their scouting had brought them to the village of Elrond, and with great luck. A small band of Plegians had been going into homes, and tearing them apart before leaving. Never stealing anything, only threatening people to keep quiet.

"Enough is enough!" Duchess Hawthorn shouted, interrupting Chrom's report. She slammed her fist onto the table. "Attack rates are at it's highest, and it is only March! At this rate-"

"They'll burn us all to the ground!" finished Lord Duir. "I say we finish what we started

fifteen years ago and be done with it! A good Plegian is a dead one!

"That is enough, Escalus!" Emmeryn said firmly. Her voice was commanding, though she did not raise it. Emmeryn raising her voice was a true rarity, Chrom had been on the receiving end of it only once. "I will not tolerate such talk, as you well know. Chrom, if you please…"

"Of course," Chrom said with a brief nod.

Chrom never cared for Escalus Duir, though he was decent friends with his son. Partially because Duir was old friends with his father. And mostly because of how Duir treated his son. Chrom knew for a fact that Tybalt would be in the Shepherds now if Duir didn't have him under his thumb. Never mind that Tybalt was well into his adult years and could think for himself. But, for some reason Tybalt wanted to have a good relationship with this unpleasant man.

Chrom continued with his story, as it turned out, according to Elrond's local men, the Plegians had followed a caravan who had tried to take shelter the night before. Unfortunately, one of the caravan members had been found dead by the time Chrom and the others arrived. She was the only death in Elrond, for better or worst.

Chrom was not about to forget the care the caravan gave their fallen comrade. The woman and her performance partner - their words, not his - were still relatively new, having joined them a little more than a year ago. Last he heard from them, they were planning on giving her a proper vigil. She shouldn't have had to die.

The Plegians tormenting Elrond had been a little too easy, even if they were mages. After having a quick lunch as a gift from the villagers, they were on their way back to Ylisstol. And then they found Anali, and then came the bandits in Southtown. "Ah, yes, I heard about that," Duke Alder said with a haughty, playful laugh. "Needed a little help from a local girl, did you not, milord?"

"Not exactly," replied Chrom. His face lit up a little when he first mentioned Anali. Yes, she wasn't about to challenge the Emperor of Valm, but she was still something else. Her tactical incite, her skill with magic, and just the way she kept her head in spite of her circumstances. "She _is_, however, our newest Shepherd."

"Always wonderful to hear of new recruits," Duchess Rowan said with a warm smile. "My youngest son is looking forward to joining the Shepherds himself."

Chrom had to smile a little. He had met the boy in question just once, but he was a spirited boy of ten, maybe eleven years by now. Of course, they couldn't accept him into the Shepherds until he turned fifteen. The exception to this rule was Ricken, and even then it was only by one year. But with his noble status, and his gift for magic, they decided to take him in for training at least. "We'll be happy to have him when he's old enough," smiled Chrom.

At his side, Frederick cleared his throat. "Milord," he said, "you can discuss this with Lady Rowan another time, but I'm afraid we have more pressing matters at hand.

"Agreed," replied Phila. Just like Frederick was insistent on staying close to Chrom, Phila was close to Emmeryn, even to the point of sharing a room with her. "Though, if I may, I fear we may need more military recruits in the months to come."

Traino, with his arms crossed over his chest, and a very solemn expression on his face, nodded grimly. "With two Plegian attacks within the same day… Milady, I know you don't want it to come to that, but I do think we should start preparing our armies for the worst."

Emmeryn's eyes cast downward, locked on the edge of the table. Her expression was calm, but Chrom knew this was one of the last things she wanted to hear. Ylisse was still recovering from the last time they went to war. Could their people suffer through another one? Of course, it wasn't just the teetering threat of war that plagued Ylisse at the moment.

"Sister," Chrom spoke up after a pregnant pause, "there is something else, though I am sure Sully has already informed you."

"She has," replied Emmeryn, "and, while our problems with bandits _is_ a concern, I want to put this new matter on the table."

"Your Grace?" questioned Lady Hawthorn.

"Chrom, if you will."

"Of course," replied Chrom.

Chrom recounted the morning's events to the counsel, but left out Marth and his warning. Perhaps it was a choice that would come back to bite him in the arse later, but how was he supposed to explain it? A young man with a mask arrived out of some ethereal portal with a warning of destruction? A boy carrying the name of the famed Hero-King himself? The counsel would have questions, questions he just couldn't answer.

Of course, Frederick knew Chrom had purposefully omitted Marth from the story, but he kept quiet. Surely, Frederick realized why the prince could not tell the counsel about the masked swordsmen. Instead, Chrom would tell Emmeryn and Phila about Marth in private. It seemed right that Emmeryn at least knew abut the man who saved their little sister.

They would not believe him about the creatures, not at first. But in time, they would, when the creatures were scene by more villagers. At most, they would assume they were bandits at first, but the travelers would get better looks at them. There would come a point where they could not remain in denial, these creatures will eventually become common knowledge, for better or worse.

The Ylisseans were strong, as Emmeryn would say, they would retaliate against such creatures. The Shepherds certainly would.

"This is all very troubling," Duke Page said steepling his fingers as he spoke, "even if we can counter this attack the people will be scared out of their wits."

"I agree," said Hawthorn. "If things are getting as bad as the Prince says, we may need to boost Ylisse's morality."

"If we need morality," Duchess Rebeck said with a haughty laugh, "then why not see our dear prince marry? My Sumia just so _happens_ to be of marrying age."

Chrom could feel the heat on his cheeks. He had nothing against Sumia personally, she was a wonderful girl, but Lady Rebeck could be a pain in the arse when it came to Chrom's -lack of - love life. There was a point where Chrom and Emmeryn were once betrothed to a child of one of the councilmen each, but when Emmeryn took the throne one of the first things she did was abolish their engagements. Lady Rebeck had been less than subtle about her thoughts on the matter. "Well, my Maribelle just became of marrying age as well," said Alder, "but I'm afraid I couldn't let her go just yet."

"Such a shame I only have sons," Rowan pretended to sigh.

"I think that's enough," Page said with a grin. "I'm not sure our prince can take much more."

Sure enough, Chrom was beginning to sink into his seat. Must they talk about his love life like this? Couldn't they just let him find love on his own? He wasn't the best at reading people, but Chrom was certain he would recognize love when he felt it. "I think Gregory is right," Emmeryn said, looking down at her younger brother, "last time our dear prince got like this during a council meeting was when we were discussing agriculture four years ago."

* * *

Holding her possessions in one arm, Anali followed Lissa down a couple of hallways until they came to, what appeared to be, a mess hall. A handful of people sat at one of the long tables, each appearing to be pretty chummy with each other. A girl with sunny blonde hair done up in thick ringlets all but shot onto her feet when she heard the door open. Smiling boldly, she hurried to Lissa and the two met each other halfway.

"Lissa, darling!" the girl said. With those two words, Anali could tell that the girl had a refine speech pattern. She almost found it humorous compared to the way Lissa spoke so casually with others.

"Hey, Maribelle!" Lissa greeted, tossing her arms around the blonde.

"Hey, yourself!" the blonde girl snapped, pulling apart from Lissa. "I've developed premature grey hair, every hour, on the hour, fretting over you the moment Sully explained what happened in the forest, and all you can say is 'hey?!'"

"What?" Lissa asked innocently with a teasing smile. "We weren't gone for that long, and it's not like I can't handle a battle or two. Though I could've gone without the rabbit meal."

"Of course," Maribelle said with a heavy, exasperated sigh. "I am not saying that, darling, but can you honestly blame me after hearing Sully's stories about the horrid creatures and the forest fire this morning?" She cupped one hand over her mouth, leaned in closer to Lissa, and whispered, "And, admittedly, that Virion character has me just a _tiny_ bit concerned."

"Oh, it was nothing we couldn't handle," Lissa argued with a wave of her hand. "Besides, we had plenty of help."

The Cleric linked arms with Anali, who started to shrink into her collar. Sadly, it did not have the same effect as her coat. "This is Anali," Lissa introduced. "Chrom asked her to join us as our newest Shepherd."

The first person to stand was a young woman with long, ash brown hair. She walked up to Anali with a kind smile. "Anali, it's nice to meet you," the woman said. "My name is-"

The woman was cut off when she tripped over her own two feet, and landed flat on her face. There were a few sighs let out, someone muttered 'typical,' and a couple of notes from a lyre were played off-key. "Are you okay?!" Anali asked, her free hand suddenly balled up in front of her chest.

"Y-yes," the woman pulled herself onto her knees with a weak smile. Slowly, she stood up, and dusted her knees off. "I'm eh… just breaking in a new pair of boots is all."

There were more grumbles from the group at the table. Of course, Anali did not buy the woman's claims at all. But she decided it was best to let the matter drop, if only for the lady's dignity.

Composing herself, the woman held her hand out to Anali. Neither of them noticed the spiky blond man canning his head around. "As I was saying," the woman smiled as though her fall never happened. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Anali. I'm Sumia."

Anali smiled weakly, and shook hands with Sumia. The woman, though obviously a bit clumsy, seemed like a very kind, and gentle person. She had something of a calming aura around her, and a sweet face as fresh as rain. Anali realized that Sumia was very easy to like.

"What the hell?!" the blond man with olive skin stood up. He marched up to Sumia and Anali and grabbed Anali by her wrist, the right wrist. The man held her wrist so that the back of her hand was exposed to the world, then he turned to Lissa. "You're telling me we've gotten so desperate that we need help from one of them!"

"Vaike!" Lissa snapped.

"Vaike, that's not fair!" Sumia shouted at the same time. Neither her tone nor her expression were angry, unlike Lissa, if anything, Sumia was outright stunned by Vaike's outburst.

"'Not fair?'" Vaike repeated, venom dripped from his voice. "You've seen the damage they've done before, and the damage they're still doing, and all you can say that calling her out on it is 'not fair?!'"

"Vaike, be reasonable," a young man with shaggy olive green hair spoke up. "You can't blame one person for something that happened over ten years ago."

"Her. Her father, her kinsmen, they all deserve the blame."

"Vaike, please!" Lissa interrupted. "Anali has a tactical eye, and I agree with Chrom when he says we could use someone of Anali's talents."

"Wait, wait," Vaike held up his free hand. "Letting her in was Chrom's idea?"

"Of course it was," Lissa said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Vaike, you wouldn't question Chrom's judgment, would you?" a boy about fourteen asked, Anali had a hard time seeing his expression due to the wide rim of his hat.

"Normally, I wouldn't," Vaike admitted. "But we're talking about an obvious Grimleal fanatic."

"Vaike," Lissa said, keeping her glare on the blond. "I'll have you know, Anali helped us save Southtown from Plegians."

And in the blink of an eye, Anali felt the overwhelming urge to throw any shyness she was still feeling out the window. Not only did Vaike still hold her by the wrist, but they were talking like all Plegian's were completely, and utterly amoral. Anali just happened to be a rare exception. What a load.

Furrowing her brow, Anali balled up her hand. She tossed her arm back, taking Vaike's hand with it, therefore twisting his wrist so that he had to let her go. Anali was vaguely aware of the pleased 'heh,' from Sully, but ignored it. "Can we stop talking about me like I'm not even here?" she asked, trying not to raise her voice.

Lissa lowered her arms, and looked down at the floor, a pang of guilt written on her face. Vaike, on the other hand, clenched his jaw so tight that his lips were twitching. He turned on his heel, and promptly excused himself from the room.

"Oh, dear," Maribelle muttered under her breath, just loud enough for Anali to hear. "That escalated quite quickly."

"H-Hey, let's forget about that," the olive-haired man said, quickly standing up himself. "So, we're fighting along side a Plegian, blood's red no matter what, right? Nice to meet you, Anali, I'm Stahl."

Stahl, as Anali learned very quickly, was just as easy to like Sumia. He didn't seem to be that ambitious, but was happy with where he was. It was probably the laid back vibes he gave off that helped Anali relax a little.

Then there was Miriel, who had a scholarly air to her, the book she was still reading while introducing herself was a dead giveaway. Anali was willing to guess that she was reading through the entire conflict. Unexpectedly, she grabbed Anali's right hand, and brought the back of it up to her eye level. Miriel snapped her book closed. "Fascinating," she said, mostly to herself. Her eyes, shielded by a sharp pair of glasses, looked Anali over, namely the bundle in her left arm. "You practice magic?" she asked observing the tome.

"A-ah… um…" Anali looked down at Miriels dark robes, and the wide rim hat, covering her red hair. "A-a bit, yes."

"Oh, cool!" the fourteen-year-old boy said, hurrying up to Anali's side. His robes were similar to Miriel's, but his were in blue. "I could give you a few pointers if you're interested. Oh, I'm Ricken, by the way."

Ricken was about half a head shorter than Anali, and it seemed fairly obvious to her that the boy had never had a beard in his life. When he shook Anali's hand with vigor, she could not for the life of her tell if this was how Ricken usually acted, or if he was simply being friendly and welcoming.

After Ricken, Anali was properly introduced to Sully. Apparently the red-head never caught Anali's name back in the forest. However, Sully's somewhat friendly demeanor vanished when she took Anali by the shoulder, and pulled her close to her. "If you do anything to betray the trust of Chrom and the Exalt," Sully whispered into her ear, each word stabbed into Anali like a dagger. "You can bet that you will meet the end of my lance. Understood?"

Anali only nodded. The threat was definitely acknowledged.

"Hello," a girl of fifteen or sixteen, greeted with a warm smile. Her hair was an olive-blond, and she green eyes. She wore a green dress and a white apron with a crinoline underneath, not unlike Lissa's outfit. "My name is Elaine. I'm technically not one of the Shepherds, but it's still nice to meet you."

This confused Anali at first, but it would not be until later that night she would learn that Elaine was a Cleric, much like Lissa. She wasn't really a Shepherd, but Elaine would be the one treating any injury received during training. It was supposed to be first hand experience for her.

And then there was the flirt, Virion. While the archer was also the Shepherds newest recruit, he looked like he fit in with the group better than Anali felt. Virion had no problem chatting with the likes of Miriel and Stahl as though they had known each other for years. And it was apparent to Anali that most of the Shepherds had known each other for a while. Their obvious camaraderie made Anali feel like such an outsider.

Now, when it came to Maribelle, the blonde girl looked Anali once over, then she _tsked_. "I would hope you were cut from finer cloth darling," she said, holding her white parasol out in front of her. "I do understand that the hoi polloi cannot help what class they were born into. I really do. But I would hope that you have some standards."

"Maribelle!" Lissa chided.

"I'm only laying my opinions out on the table now, darling," Maribelle said, pursing her lips. "It will make things less awkward that way."

"Well," Anali said, the shyness suddenly gone again. "In a way, I've had a rough couple of days, so…" She shrugged. "Can't really be helped much now."

"No, I suppose it couldn't," the blonde agreed. "Well, first impressions are deceiving, after all. I suppose there is plenty of time to prove that there is a lovely gem under all that… well, and change my mind."

Without another word, Maribelle walked off with her head held high. Lissa peered at Maribelle's retreating figure, to Anali, then back. Lissa held up one hand to Anali, as though to say 'one moment please,' then ran off to catch up with Maribelle. "Don't take her words to heart, Anali," said Sumia. "Maribelle warms up to people slowly."

"Or burns them to quickly," murmured Stahl.

Anali nodded. "I figured as much," she said quietly. "She managed to befriend Lissa, after all."

She felt a bit conflicted, wondering if she really made the right choice in saying yes to Chrom's offer. It was a comfort to think that she could easily befriend a few people in this room. But Anali felt more like an outsider than anything else. It was painfully obvious that everyone in this room had known each other for a while, and Anali clearly wasn't much of a social butterfly.

Anali was the one out of place here. Anali without any memory of herself before yesterday. Anali with the foreign cloak and the foreign mark on her hand. Anali who was most likely from the country Ylisse was feuding with.

* * *

**Authors Note: **A couple of things of importance. Anali doesn't start out as some badass who can use both a sword and a tome, she has no clue what she's doing with her sword. Which is important to me.

Also… yeah, not everyone is going to like Anali for being Plegian. It feels a little odd to have Vaike be the most vocal, but given his backstory it makes sense. Sully, yeah I think she'd just make it known that if you betray the royals, you'll have to face her wrath and be done with it.

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three  
Recreation**

_Thick black clouds shield the moon from view as fire cackles around me. I hear the screams of the soldiers and civilians being slaughtered by the walking cadavers. There are hardly any buildings left standing, even the rubble is set ablaze. I would be genuinely surprised to find anything still standing in the morning._

_I half-jog down the cobblestone streets while trying to avoid any fallen debris and any other obstacles. My eyes are beginning to sting from the smoke and ash in the air and I can feel a tickle in the back of my throat. I hear frightened screams and strained growls, something for me to follow. The voices could mean there are still people around, being attacked no doubt, but people all the same._

_A small group of men and women run pass me leading someone injured away from the ruckus. I hope this means that there's some form of safe haven. How such a place could still be standing in the wake of all this destruction and chaos I wouldn't know. Either way, I should not question it, if they have someplace to stay safe that was good. I shouldn't question it but rather hope that they make it safely._

_I stop abruptly as the remains of a lone wall collapses right in front of me. Naturally startled, I jump a whole foot back, my hands are balled close to my chest, my heart pounds in my ears. When the dust settles down I can see a man fighting against a creature I recognize instantly. It is the very same walking cadaver I saw in the forest. I know I should help this man, he will not last much longer on his own, but I have no weapon._

_The creature grabs the man by his head, its hands covers his ears. The creature then turns the mans head so far and so swiftly I hear a sickening, unmistakable snap. The man doesn't fight as the creature releases his limp body. It's too late… Oh gods!_

_I flee the sight before the corpse can see me. I am not armed, I would not have a fighting chance against that thing. My only option is to run. I can see orange-yellow lights from a building a good mile down the road. Outside of the lights in the windows I cannot see any of the finer details of the building. I start to cough, the smoke and ash finally begin to get to me. Hopefully, I can make it to the lights before I collapse of smoke inhalation. Hopefully the air is cleaner there._

_I run as fast as I could manage with my coughing fits and the stinging in my eyes. A woman bumps into me as she runs in the opposite direction. She is frightened, terrified, but she is also dressed in military garb. She is abandoning her post in cowardice, leaving her comrades-in-arms to fend for themselves, leaving them without an extra man. I don't know how I feel about this._

_I make it to the building; I try desperately to keep my coughing under control. I enter the building where the air was somewhat, and thankfully, clean. But I can't take the moment to breathe, to clear my lungs, I am seeing all of this for a reason and I had better go find it._

_I travel up one particularly long, spiraling flight of stairs. The staircase leads me up to a long hallway that was torn to bits. A decorative vase was shattered, a painting had been kicked in, and the walls clawed at. It's a shame, this place looked like it could have been quite beautiful once._

_The hallway leads me to a large set of double doors. The doorknob on one of them was missing, and the second one was hanging on by it's hinge. But I hear grunts and cries from the other side. Bracing myself, I push the doors open._

_I've walked into a war._

_The creatures are fighting against armed, human, soldiers. I couldn't push myself through the room without being stricken by weapons from either side. This was bad, this was really bad, because as hard, and valiantly as the soldiers fought, their numbers were quickly diminishing at the hands of the creatures._

_I keep my back to the wall, inching my way across the room, looking for a fallen weapon I could use, so I could help the soldiers fight back. But the creatures claimed them before I could even think of diving for them. At my side, a soldier is slammed against the wall, tears in their eyes as the creature breathes a black haze onto their face._

_The creature pauses, the soldier holds their breath, I stare wide eyed at the creatures abdomen. A sword is sticking, out off center in its abdominal area. "I believe the woman you want…" a girl says, her voice low and dangerous, "is __**me**__!"_

_In a swift movement, the girl lifts her sword, slicing through the creature until it vanishes into a black haze. The girl stands, her back to the soldier. "We can't let these things win," she tells the soldier and, maybe, me. She turns to face the soldier, but I cannot make out any specific detail in her face. "Now grab a sword, and fight!"_

_The soldier picks up the creatures fallen axe, she says something to the girl that I cannot hear, then jumps back into the fray. The stray cry stole the girls attention, as an axe came hurtling towards her. The girl blocks the attack with the sword, pushes off the axe, the girl slides back, then thrusts forward; she plunges her sword into the creature._

_This girl is it, this girl is the reason I am here, seeing all this destruction, I just know it. But why can't I see her face? What am I supposed to do?_

_The girl looks down at her latest kill until another creature barrels up to her. She blocks the creatures axe successfully. The girl maneuvers herself around so that she could attack the creature from the back, her attack missed, but even I could tell that she had great skill. The girl slides back, she looks over her shoulder, yet another creature is gearing for an attack. Quickly the girl gets onto her feet, and readies herself._

_The east wall is sporadically blown to bits, debris flys into the hall, the rest of the structure is blown away. The girl cries out, her arms shielding her face; the building rumbles, and I am forced onto my knees. I curl up in a ball, protecting my head as the shaking continues and the rest of the hall is torn apart._

_"So ends the human race," I hear. It is a deep, booming voice, but I cannot see where it is coming from._

_I push myself onto my knees, taking in the destruction around me. Each wall had been blown to bits, the soldiers were dead all around me. The floor had been reduced in size by less then half, but what remained still stood, a miracle from Naga, no doubt. _

_Where is the girl?!_

_I sigh in relief as she pulls herself up from the edge of the platform. Quickly, she is on her feet with her sword drawn in front of her. "The future is built upon the past," the deep voice says, "but your kind shall never see it."_

_The girl's head turns as she tries to locate the source of the voice. I'm trying to do the same thing, but the voice sounds like it's everywhere. When she looks to her left she can clearly see something I cannot. Slowly, the girl turns herself to face this unseen force, her hands are shaking, and her breathing trembles. "Your mother and father are dead, tiny one," the voice says with a low chuckle._

_While I cannot make out the girl's face, her vulnerability is obvious to me. She is shaking, her breathing is uneven, I hear a quiver in her voice. She cannot face this thing alone, it is a death sentence. I'm not sure how I know this, I just do, as little sense as it makes._

_I want to tell the girl not to be the hero, that it would be okay for her not to. That she would not survive this if she did. But my voice is lost to me._

_I cover my ears when the unseen force lets out a roar, powerful enough to shake the buildings structure, I fear that it will collapse on us. "And now it is your turn," the voice says. "To die!"_

_The wind suddenly picks up as the girl stands her ground, pointing her blade at the creature. Her cries echo as my heart pounds in my chest. Finally finding my voice, I scream at her, "JUST RUN!"_

Anali could still hear the echoing cries and roars when she opened her eyes with a jump. Her heart was beating hard in her ears. She felt as cold as ice, despite the thick blanket she had cocooned herself in.

She untangled her arms and pulled the blanket off her legs, allowing her to sit up with a bit of ease. She was in the room she would share with Sumia and Elaine. The room was pretty standard, there were four cots and one was now unoccupied. Each cot came with a wooden locker for personal belongings and a chest for clothing. It went without say that Anali's side of the room was barren and lonely.

That was something Anali could worry about later, however. Right now she could feel the walls beginning to close in on her. Her thoughts were running a mile a minute, she needed to get out of here. She needed to calm down.

She pushed the blanket to the side, unaware and uncaring that it fell onto the floor. Her feet were quickly met with the slight discomfort of a cool floor when Anali swung her legs around. As silently as possible, Anali tip-toed across the room, careful not to wake Sumia or Elaine, and slipped out the door. She wondered idly if she could remember the way to the mess hall. She was pretty sure she could, if she wasn't mistaken the mess hall was just around the corner.

As quietly and slowly as possible Anali walked down the darkened halls. It _did_ occur to her that someone may mistake her intentions for something malicious. It would have been something of a stretch, however, given that Anali wore nothing but the pink nightgown Sumia lent her and her smallclothes. If she really had something vicious in mind surely Anali would have been properly dressed. Someone had to realize that, right?

A few minutes later, Anali pulled open the door to the mess hall. Her throat felt parched, almost like she spent ages breathing in ashes on a hot day. She needed a cool drink of water, so, she fixed herself a mug of water. It felt cool and liberating against her throat as it trickled down. Was this what the earth felt like after the first rain during a dry spell?

Anali left the mess hall after she took care of the mug when she was finished. She silently left the mess hall; as soon as she rounded the corner, she came face-to-face with a slightly large man with dark hair. He wore a full suit of bulky yellow and silver armor. To Anali and her inexperience, it appeared to be quite heavy. The man had a round face and looked like he was perpetually squinting. "Oh, Anali!" the man breathed out in a slight surprise. He took a good step back for fear of standing too close and making things uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you…"

She arched her brow, why was this man talking to her like he walked in on her during a bath? It was not as though she was in the middle of something like that. The question was, what was he doing out here? If is armor was anything to go by he must have been out on night watch. If anything, _she_ was interrupting _him_.

Anali shook her head, "N-No. It's fine… Kellam?"

"That's me!" he beamed. "That's me… just disappearing in to the background."

Anali was about to argue, she wanted to say, _'No, I wouldn't say that.'_ But, really, she couldn't remember if or when Kellam was ever introduced to her. Anali knew his name, so clearly they met at some point, but she couldn't remember _when_.

At an utter lost for words Anali tucked a strand of hair behind her ears. This was getting awkward. "Are you on night watch?" asked Anali. In hindsight it was a very stupid question. _Of course _Kellam was on night watch, why else would he be in the halls, alone, in full armor, in the middle of the night?

"Yeah," nodded Kellam. The pair walked along side each other as they conversed, "The cover of night is just about perfect for bandits or Plegian's to strike while everyone's asleep. And there's the creatures from the forest…"

Anali's brow rose, as she nodded in agreement. She supposed that they couldn't be _too_ careful with those creatures. There was no telling what their attack patterns were, or what their goal was after all. Assuming they even had one. Hell, they didn't even know if they possessed any levels of intelligence.

"So, what about you?" Kellam asked. "I would've thought you'd be taking advantage of a soft bed after everything you've been through."

"Couldn't sleep," Anali replied instantly, it was a bit embarrassing to admit to someone that she was up because of a nightmare, no matter how vaguely she could remember it.

"Bad dreams?" asked Kellam.

She heaved a sigh. Was it that obvious? "Yeah. I don't really remember it well enough, though. Just a bit of screaming and fires."

"Nothing else?" the dark haired man asked.

"Everything's hazy," Anali said with a weak, tired smirk, "I should be used to it by now, but…"

Kellam looked down at the floor. What an awful position for Anali to be in. For anyone to be in, really. To be unable to remember anything beyond two days ago. How empty Anali must have felt. Was it lonely to wake up in the middle of the night without any comforting memories to look back on? How frustrating it must have been to have no answers to your personal questions. Kellam did not envy Anali's position. "Well, you know," Kellam said after a pregnant pause, "while you're here with us, you might as well try creating new memories."

"Huh?" questioned Anali.

"Maybe you had nightmares because you're trying to remember something. Or, because you're trying to search for something to hold onto. But maybe if you make newer, happier memories, it will help with the nightmares."

Anali bit the inside of her cheek. That was one way of thinking about it. Anali really wasn't quite sure if it would help with her dreams or not; but it did make for a comforting thought. "I haven't thought of it like that," admitted Anali. She gave Kellam a crooked smile. "However, I must point out that it's a 'time-will-tell' sort of thing. It's not like I can have one good day and everything will be okay as I sleep."

Kellan chuckled. "Well, Ylisstol wasn't built in one night."

"I suppose that is true," Anali paused for a moment, her expression drop. "Em… was I supposed to take a turn to get to my room?"

* * *

Anali planted the tip of her bronze sword into the ground to keep herself steady as she desperately tried to catch her breath. Her heart was beating so fast it was a wonder her entire skeleton wasn't rattling in sync. Her hands were sore, they felt like they were burning, odds were they were beginning to blister. Sweat was dripping down from her brow and formed around the nape of her neck. "I'm dying…" she whined.

"You wouldn't be if you _breathed_," Frederick chided. "I don't know if you're doing it intentionally or not, but I've noticed that when you go to strike you either hold your breath, or you're breathing is shallow. That is an excellent way to find yourself passed out. Now, if you're truly serious about this, we can't have that happening in the middle of battle."

Frustrated, Anali rested the hilt of the sword against her forehead. As both Sully and Frederick so kindly pointed out to her earlier that morning during breakfast, Anali had a bit of magical skill, but her swordplay left much to be desired. At the time, Anali was sitting in the mess hall, chatting with Lissa. The youngest royal had asked her how her first night in the garrison was. And then Frederick approached her, suggesting that Anali work on swordplay first thing today. "It's obvious you've no idea what to do with it," Frederick said, standing over her as she buttered her second slice of bread. "If I venture a guess, assuming you have been honest with us-"

"I have," muttered Anali.

"-you only had the sword on you in the first place hoping to scare off bandits and the like. Someone's going to need to teach you to wield it properly."

"Are you volunteering, then?" Anali asked with a perked eyebrow.

"I was simply stating-"

"Hey, that's a wonderful idea!" Lissa spoke up with a great enthusiasm. The brown leather corset and her crinoline had long since been put away, leaving Lissa's headdress, yellow dress, and white apron remaining. "Who better to teach her than Chrom's second-in-command?"

"All the more reason to give the task to someone-"

"Frederick," Lissa said with an exasperated sigh and a roll of the eyes, "you already train every one else in the Shepherds, so what's a little one-on-one?"

Which was why Frederick was teaching Anali a bit of swordplay while the others sparred off against each other. Technically they were encouraged to try a hand with different weaponry to get a feel for it should they ever need an impromptu weapon, but Frederick decided Anali needed to focus on her swordsmanship first, then the rest would follow suit.

Anali swallowed, her mouth was uncomfortably dry. She wondered how in Naga's name Frederick did it, he had to put up just as much of a fight as Anali did, if not more, yet the man hardly broke a sweat! It undoubitly helped that he wasn't wearing his suit of armor, but a white shirt, black tie, and black slacks. It made him look like a butler; this managed to both surprise Anali, but at the same time, it really did not.

She was certain, however, that Frederick had yet to really let his guard down when he was around Anali. The constant 'what if' hung over his head she was sure. She could have been the little Plegian spy out to get the Exalt and her family with a sympathetic amnesia ploy. Frederick's concerns were nothing short of understandable, and Anali could expect nothing less from a man who took his job as seriously as he did. She just hated the situation. No one here actually knew Anali before she lost her memory, so there really wasn't a way for her to prove that she wasn't lying.

"While your form needs work and you need to work on your breathing, I do say you've got the making of a decent swordsman," said Frederick.

Anali raised an inquisitive eyebrow, she failed to see how. Everything Anali did seemed wrong to her. The way she held her sword seemed uncomfortable and wrong. Her thrust seemed awkward. Her stances felt wrong. Of course, Frederick knew more about all of this than Anali did, so maybe she was just over thinking it. On the other hand there had to be a catch to Frederick's compliment, he did not seem like the kind of man to just handout free compliments without a bit of constructive criticism.

During their second round Anali found her sword hand cramping, the skin was as tender as ever. If Anali did not feel like she was holding the hilt wrong before, she definitely felt like she was now when she couldn't find a grip without her hand stinging.

Another half-hour passed and Frederick dismissed her for the day. Anali sat herself on the grass in the training field, trying to massage her stiff, sore hands. "Here," Stahl said handing Anali a round tin.

Curious, she took it into her hand and studied it. "Salve?" she asked.

"Homemade, too."

Silently, Anali removed the lid and dabbed two fingers into the ointment, gathering a bit onto the tips of her fingers. She applied the salve onto the opposite hand; it felt cool against her warm skin with a slight tingle. When she finished on both hands Anali handed the tin back to Stahl, who held a hand up. "You keep it," he insisted, "my family sends me plenty."

"Oh, thank you," smiled Anali. She studied the tin again. "Did they make it for you?"

Lowering himself down beside her, Stahl nodded. "My father runs an apocathary shop," he explained, "the salves are something of a specialty of his."

"Oh. Were you ever an apprentice, then?"

"I dabbled a bit," shrugged Stahl. Thinking about it now, a few years after he left home, he was beginning to feel a slight sense of nostalgia. "Just enough to make a couple of tonics and salves. Not enough to have them contribute much, but…"

"Sounds like you and your family are kind of close though," said Anali. He looked up at her with an arch brow. Flinching, Anali's hair nearly stood up on end. "Sorry, should I not have… I-It just sounded like… I-I mean they send you healing ointments, so…"

Despite his shuttering shoulders, Stahl tried not to burst out laughing at that moment. Anali could feel her cheeks beginning to heat up. Okay her little out burst was kind of funny, but still! "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Stahl said, calming down a little. "I shouldn't have…"

Stahl knew full well that he should not have been laughing at her, Anali looked so embarrassed, her eyes narrowed, glancing down at the grass, with a pink blush on her cheeks. But it was kind of funny, in a cute way. Anali wanted to say the right things, to make a good impression, but when she acted like that, she was trying too hard. It made Stahl wonder what her life before Chrom and Lissa found her was like.

Which was probably the biggest reason why he shouldn't have laughed at her like that.

The Shepherds learned about Anali's amnesia shortly after Vaike stormed out. Stahl, Ricken, Elaine, and Sumia were trying to get to know her, just trying to be friendly. They had asked some pretty basic things, where she came from, what her parents were like, if she had any siblings and the like. Anali had no answers and she tried desperately to find something, Stahl knew right then that something was wrong. And then Anali looked like she would start crying.

Lissa quickly explained what she knew to them. How they found Anali in the field, and how Anali could not remember anything from before. Whether or not everyone believed her was an entirely different story. From what Stahl could tell, those who believed Anali's story and those who didn't were a bit mixed.

Shaking her head Anali let out a very weak chuckle. "I think my experience with other people has been rather limited," she said. Anali ran her fingers through her bangs, then pushed them back out of her eyes.

"I wouldn't say that," said Stahl, "I'm sure it's just… uhm…"

"Amnesia can only justify so much, Stahl," sighed Anali, "some of my shortcomings have to be my own regardless, and this one feels like such."

"Well… _Yeah_, but it seemed rude to say it out loud." Anali smiled at that. "But," said Stahl, "to answer your question, yes, I'd like to think my family and I are close. My parents send me a bit of salve every so often, and my brother is always sending me a stomach tonic-"

"Oh, you've got a brother?" Anali asked, hugging her knees close to her. Her eyes sparkled with an interest that told Stahl it was okay to talk to her about it.

"Yeah, just one, though," the olive haired man said, "he took up our fathers trade. I imagine he could brew up more than I ever could by now."

"I don't know. I'm sure you could whip up something fierce."

Stahl had to laugh. "Well, my stomach tonic is known for curing tummy aches in fifteen minutes."

Anali smiled beginning to feel a little at ease around Stahl. As she had observed the day before it was really easy to like him. He appeared to be a young man who already knew his own strengths and weaknesses and he was perfectly okay with it. He was a man who was comfortable in his own skin. It felt oddly refreshing to meet someone like that. "Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about it," Stahl said, almost randomly.

"Huh?" Anali's brow arched.

"Your sword work, I mean. No one who picks up a sword masters it on the first try. Give it a little time and practice, and I'm sure you'll build your skill up."

She nodded, murmuring, "Okay."

Running a hand through his hair, Stahl clicked his tongue. "_So_, have you made yourself at home, yet?" he asked her.

Anali's face twisted as she struggled to find the right words. "Kind of," she said, "I mean my side of the room is looking pretty empty and I'm still meeting everyone in the garrison."

"It can be a little hard at first," Stahl admitted. "When I first became a Shepherd, I certainly felt like a small fish in a big pond."

"But did you get glares and whispers because of the foreign garb you wore?" Anali asked pulling at a blade of grass.

Stahl had to wince. Of course there were some whispers from the soldiers about Anali since she first arrived. The coat she wore yesterday when she arrived was the tell all sign of her Plegian origin And then there was the Mark of Grima on her hand. It was not all that surprising that some were beginning to question Chrom's judgment.

The white haired girl shook her head, mentally berating herself. "Sorry, that wasn't…" her voice trailed off, "I shouldn't have… That was a little…"

"Why not?" asked Stahl in return. He leaned back so he could look at the sky, his hands were firmly planted on the ground to keep him from toppling over. "If we're going to get this budding friendship off the ground, we need to start sharing our problems and concerns."

Stahl could see it in Anali's face that she understood, but the situation was just lousy. There was no way to really prove that she had been honest, or that her intentions were good. In the end, Anali would have to earn the trust of those who doubted her the old fashioned way... the hard way.

"Anali!" Sumia called. She approached the pair in a half-jog. She managed to get out a brief yelp when she tripped just a mere few feet away from her destination.

Wide eyed and mouth hanging open Anali pulled herself to her knees. She reached a hand out for Sumia, offering a hand up, but the young woman pulled herself onto her knees in the blink of an eye. "I'm fine!" she said all too quickly. Slowly, Sumia pulled herself onto her feet, and took a few deep breaths in. "A-Anyway, Anali, Lissa suggested that we go out to the market in a little while. To… well, get you some clothes, effects, and help you get settled in."

Anali eyed the tunic she wore, it was a bit big on her. To the point where she needed a belt around her waist to keep the excess fabric from flapping about and exposing her bosom. It was another article borrowed from the stuff to be donated.

"When do we go?" asked Anali.

"As soon as Lissa and Maribelle are ready," replied Sumia.

They left the garrison twenty minutes later. Sumia had asked Elaine, Miriel and Sully if they wanted to come along, Elaine politely said no as the infirmary was a little short handed that day; one of her coworker's children was sick. Miriel was quick to refuse, all while showing off her rather impressive vocabulary. And then there was Sully, who responded with a, "Hell no!"

Sumia sighed as they left the garrison. "I know shopping isn't exactly Sully's cup of tea," Sumia explained, "but I thought she would have at least liked to be included."

"Admirable thought, darling," Maribelle said. She had opened her white parasol and had rested it against her shoulder blocking out the sun. "I am sure Sully is grateful for the offer if nothing else."

Sumia's smile brightened. "You think so?"

"Of course, dear."

Was that Maribelle being sincere? Or was that just to make Sumia feel better?

When it seemed like Anali was beginning to throw caution to the wind and her shyness was beginning to dissipate, she retreated back into her shell. She kept close behind Sumia in the market with her shoulders hunched and her hands kept close to her chest in an attempt to make herself as small as possible.

Her hands were covered by a pair of riding gloves Sumia found for her to borrow, while Anali appreciated the gesture, now that she was out in public, Anali hoped to find something a bit better in the market. The gloves made picking things up feel awkward. Simply wearing them felt awkward and made her hands too warm, too fast.

Now that she stood here, in the market of Ylisse's capitol, all Anali could think of was everything that could go wrong. If she loses her gloves, the right one in particular, or if someone could literally _smell_ the Plegian in her.

"First thing's first," Maribelle said, looking Anali over. "I say we find the lady some garments. She simply _cannot_ pull off the 'lets-just-throw-whatever-is-lying-around' look. Very few can, but there is a reason their original owners dismissed them."

"I don't know if I'd put it like that," said Sumia, "but it would be easier to get that out of the way first."

"All right then!" Lissa said, beaming. "Let's go… This way!"

The blonde princess grabbed Anali by the arm and pulled her down the road to a shop south-east in the market district. Outside the shop were a couple of displays of lovely summer day dresses. A bell tinkled overhead as the girls entered the shop; a woman knelt on the floor beside a mannequin, she was working diligently on the hem of a white and pink dress. The woman, who looked old enough to be their grandmother, looked up to find the four. Instantly, she removed the pins from her mouth and rose to her feet. "Milady," the woman greeted, "good afternoon. Wonderful to see you again. Lady Alder, Lady Rebeck, pleasure to see you both again as well. How can we help you today?"

"Marina please," Sumia smiled with a light blush on her cheeks, "there's no need to be so formal."

"Well, with _her_, you don't," Maribel added curtly.

"Marina, this is Anali," Lissa said while she shoved the young woman in question into Marina's view. Anali could feel her face beginning to turn red once again. She tried to hide in the collar of her tunic, but sadly the collar was too low for the effect she wanted. "She's our newest Shepherd. However, she is in need of a new wardrobe, so we were just wondering if there was anything here?"

Marina looked the young woman with white hair over once. "Anali, yes?" she asked. "Is there any preference you have?"

"Functional," said Anali. "Something that's easy to move around in. I don't want to go tripping over my own hemline."

"Yes, yes," Maribelle said, waving her hand in small circular motions. "Functions _are_ good to have in this line of work, but you should also be presentable. If you ever go out on a march, you will be representing Ylisse's finest. We can't have you look like-like-like some… eh… what's a nicer word than 'tramp?'"

_Gee, thanks… _Anali thought with a dull expression.

But, she had to admit that Maribelle did have a point. She couldn't very well go to neighboring realms wearing nothing but rags.

"Now, a lady's clothes should tell the world something about themselves," Maribelle prattled on, she used several hand gestures as she spoke. "They should say 'I am a proud Ylissean, but I'm also…'" The girl in pink tapped Anali on the top of her head with the parasol. "Now, Anali think. What should your clothes say about you?"

"'I'm not naked,'" Anali said dully in response.

Lissa's reaction was instantaneous, she broke out in to a loud, snorty fit of laugher that one would certainly not expect from the realm's princess. Sumia on the other hand was making more of an effort to keep herself under control. But, even then her shoulders were visibly shaking. Maribelle's jaw dropped open slightly as she stared at Anali. Had Anali truly just said such a thing outloud like that… _in public?!_

"What?" Anali asked with a shrug. "Seriously, _what? _What else are clothes supposed to say?"

Lissa's laughter doubled to the point that the other seamstresses had stopped what they were doing to stare at her. Seeing this, Sumia tried to cover her face with one hand. "How about 'I'm an enigma?'" she offered. "All things considered, it is kind of appropriate."

Anali nodded absently. She did not know much about herself, so she did not know what her clothes should 'say' about her. The concept of clothes 'saying' something about the person wearing them seemed utterly stupid. As long as she was presentable, the clothes were functional, and comfortable, and Anali was not parading around naked, she was pretty okay with anything.

Why did it suddenly seem like getting clothes was much harder than Anali originally thought?

"Perhaps something dark then?" Marina suggested. She looked Anali over again. "Yes, something dark would make for a lovely contrast with your hair." Marina looked over her shoulder then called out, "Portia!"

Obediently, a young woman with auburn hair pulled back into a high ponytail was at Marina's side. "Yes, ma'am?" asked Portia.

"I want you to take Lady Anali's measurements and help her find garments fitting her criteria."

With a murmured yes, Portia gestured for Anali to follow her. She did, if not a bit hesitantly, and even then she needed a good push from Lissa. Portia measured Anali's bust, waist, and her collar; she felt uncomfortable throughout the entire process. Anali knew it was necessary, but she felt so uncomfortable having someone that close to her face. When the process was done, much to Anali's relief, Portia lead her to a collection of pre-made garments in Anali's size, and showed her to a changing stall in the back of the shop.

Lissa was the one providing money for everything in spite of Anali's protest. Anali insisted that the royals had done more than enough for her already. Surely she could have waited a few weeks and save up her own weekly pay. She could have waited a few more weeks to shop for her clothes and effects. But her protest had fallen upon deaf ears. Anali did not like this, the constant taking from Chrom and Lissa with no giving on her part. It made her feel like she owed them something in return.

While Anali looked through the garments she had Sumia's input, which was a real help. Anali found a tunic she liked the most, and would have worked really well with as a replacement tunic for the outfit she was found in. Anali wasn't sure why she was wearing it, she didn't particularly care for it. She found a few casual outfits for the upcoming summer weather, she decided to buy seasonal clothing later. And then there was the dress Sumia really pushed for Anali to buy. It was a pretty pale blue thing with white sheer sleeves. Pretty, but at the same time not too glamorous. That is, until Anali saw the price. "That is two suns too many," Anali said in a hushed tone. "What on earth would I need this for anyway?"

"Off the top of my head… don't know," Sumia shrugged. "But, still, it'd be nice to know you have a nice dress if you ever find yourself attending a formal occasion." A giddy grin happened upon her face. "_Or_ when you're faced with a whole line of suitors."

Anali's face flushed scarlet. "I-I think I should work on getting comfortable in my own skin before I start thinking about romance and courtship!" argued Anali. She held her hands up in protest. "B-b-besides, what do I need a _line_ of suitors for?! Don't most people just want one?"

"Hmm, I suppose," Sumia nodded absently. She pulled another dress off the rack. "Yes, I guess a line of suitors is a bit much. Just one will do, given it's the right one."

Anali understood that Sumia was simply being friendly with a little girl talk as though Anali _wasn't_ wandering around with a head as empty as a flower pot. And she really appreciated it, but Anali could hardly tell a person what she liked or disliked, or even where she saw herself a few years down the road. Anali needed to get to know herself first before she could even think of getting to know a potential suitor.

"How about this?" Sumia held the dress up in front of her. It was pale pink with a lacy outter laired rose skirt, with matching shoulder length sleeves. "I'll buy this, if you buy that."

"Or you could just buy it regardless of what I buy?" Anali suggested with a weak grin.

"Now where's the fun in that?"

Somehow, in the end they bought the dresses, and the ladies left the shop each of them making some form of purchase. Anali bought enough casual clothes to last her a week, a spare for her laundry days, her own nightwear, and the dress. Anali hugged her collection of parcels close to her chest as Sumia listed off a few more things Anali would need. "Should we even bother with effects right now?" she asked Lissa.

"Of course," said Lissa, "we want Anali to be ready when Chrom asks her to march."

"Huh? But Lissa, Anali just came in yesterday."

"And my swordplay still needs work," added Anali.

"But you're magic is pretty dang decent," argued Lissa. "_And_ she's got tactical skills to boot!"

Glancing down, Anali hugged her parcels closer. "I didn't do anything spectacular," she murmured. "Oh." In a moment of realization her brow perked up. " But I could use more tomes, the one I had on me is beginning to run low on pages."

"Tomes?" Maribelle repeated. She pointed to a small tent a few yards away. "Over there, I think."

It was an open tent that had an assortment of goods from neighboring countries. At least, according to Maribelle they were, or at least some of them were. When they entered the tent, she looked uninterested, until she spotted a paper fan, and unfolded it. She was greeted with pastel flowers and green leaves against a gold background. "Must be Valmese," Maribelle murmured to herself. "Looks quite expensive, actually."

"Oh, it was. I had to trade a whole case of Sweet Tincture to one of my sisters for this one."

A woman with dark red hair poked her head up from the cases of elixir she was stacking. Her long, red hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, and she wore very comfortable clothing, fit for travel, in earthy colors. "Anything I can help you ladies with?" asked the merchant.

"We wanted to see if you were carrying any tomes," said Sumia.

"Right over there," the merchant pointed at a large crate filled with books with spines of light green, yellow, and red. "Hot off the press."

Crouching down in front of the crate, Anali slowly ran her finger down one of the spines until she picked up a couple of yellow Thunder tomes. "Do the mages usually specialize in one element?" Anali asked, taking two tomes into her arms.

Lissa thought about it for a moment, her face twisted as she thought. "I can't say it's _unheard_ of," she said, "but there is a bit of convenience of using Wind and Fire. You'd have to ask Miriel or Ricken, they would know more about magic than any of us."

"Oh, this is quaint," Sumia said while beaming. She stood in front of one of the tables, littered with items from across the world.

The item Sumia was looking at was a peculiar doll that popped open from it's middle. Inside there was another little doll painted slightly differently, and inside was another, and another, until there was a teeny tiny thing inside. The hollow dolls were all beautifully painted to resemble an old woman, as you opened one doll to reveal another the woman got younger and younger.

"That would be a nesting doll from Regna Ferox," the merchant explained. "Quite the conversation piece if you ask me."

"Oh, it is, isn't it?" Sumia agreed with a large smile. Slowly, her smile died as she placed the nesting doll back where she found it. "But, I don't have the space for it."

"It's because of all your books, darling," Maribelle quipped with a slight sigh. She still held onto the paper fan, most likely looking to buy it. Her dark pink eyes glanced at Anali who was now looking at a collection of books the merchant had. Maribelle sighed. "And it looks like Anali hear is headed down the same path as our dear Sumia."

"What? N-no!" Anali straightened up. "I-I just like to read, is all… At-at least, I think I do. I-I mean-"

"I was just making a joke," sighed Maribelle, her tone utterly droll and bored, "you don't need to defend your actions, especially if they're harmless."

"S-sorry…" Anali said, trying to shrink once more.

"Sounds like someone ought to get out more," the merchant chuckled.

"I'm not quite sure that's it," mumbled Maribelle. She turned to the merchant, holding up the fan. "I suppose I'll be taking this, my good ma'am."

"Ooh, good choice! That'll be five moons."

"Five?!" the blonde young woman repeated. Regardless she fished out five silver coins from her purse.

"Excuse me," Anali spoke up. She carried an object, a little bigger than her palm, with several holes in it, and a mouth piece sticking out. "Can you tell me what this is? I think I've seen it before, but the name escapes me."

The merchant held her hand out to Anali, Anali placed the object into her waiting palm. The red haired woman studied it for a moment. "Oh, yes, of course!" she said to herself. "It's an ocarina. It's a kind of flute." She pointed to the mouth piece. "Obviously you put your mouth here, blow, and cover these little holes to make music."

"It looks familiar," Anali said, taking the instrument back.

"Maybe you've played, then?" suggested Sumia.

Anali removed the glove from her left hand to get a better feel for the instrument. It did feel familiar in her hand, so it was possible that maybe she did play before. "I guess I'll take this, too," Anali said, placing the ocarina on top of the yellow tomes.

* * *

Night at the garrison was quite still, a few soldiers were stationed inside and outside to keep watch. By the time Chrom found a few minutes in the day to visit, he was sure most of the inhabitants were sound asleep, so this may have been pointless. But, the way he saw it, he owed it to Anali to see how her first day here was.

By offering her a position in the Shepherds there was a very high chance that Anali would be dragged into the battles that were sure to come. But if things continued the way they had been this year, war would surely come by the years end. He could not really blame her if the first thing she wanted to do was find herself. While Anali did have a choice whether or not she wanted to stay or leave, what choice did she have? Really, where could a woman without any knowledge of herself really do?

The last Chrom heard of Anali, she was bunking with Sumia and Elaine. That made him smile, they would make Anali feel at home. Now, where did they sleep again? Oh, right.

He came to a door where, on the other side, Chrom could hear giggles, and… music? Yes, music it came from a flute. The tune itself was quite breezy, bubbly even, it was a tune that easily conjured the image of children frolicking in the meadow. The song ended with a deep inhale from the musician. "Wow, Anali," he heard Elaine say as she clapped her hands. "I had no idea you could play."

"Neither did I," said Anali. "I'm not even sure where I heard that song. It just sort of came to me."

"Then it'd stand to reason that you've played it plenty of times before you came here, yes?" asked Sumia. "This has to be a good sign, then!"

"Yeah, I guess…" Anali said, she didn't sound convinced. And Chrom decided now was the time to make his presence known.

He opened the door. "Ladies," said Chrom. "Don't mind me, I was just wonder if - Oh, gods, I'm sorry!"

All three were dressed in their nightgowns, appropriately enough, they were surely getting ready for a goodnights rest. Sumia was the only one of the three to look remotely embarrassed. Well her and Chrom, that is. He closed the door slightly, trying to hide is own reddened face. "Sorry, sorry," Chrom repeated. "I was, just… Can I speak with you, Anali?"

"Oh, sure," the dark haired woman said. He heard her shift in her cot. She opened the door, and stepped out, still wearing her dark nightgown. "Is something wrong?"

She looked different than when Chrom had last seen her, healthier, well rested. Her hair no longer looked stringy or filthy. The dirt and grime was cleaned from her skin, and she did not look as tired as she did yesterday. "Nothing's wrong," Chrom assured her. "I just wanted to see how you were doing."

Anali smiled. "I'm doing fine so far," she said. "Training this morning wasn't quite what I was expecting, but then again, I really didn't know what I was expecting."

"Yeah, Frederick can be a bit hard on new recruits," chuckled Chrom.

"But I think I can survive," said Anali. "I'm… relieved that I have some sort of direction, I suppose. If anyone else had found me-"

"It's probably best not to think about what could have been," Chrom cut her off. "Or what was. Think about the now, and I'm sure everything else will fall into place."

There was probably something better Chrom could have said to her if he wanted to be encouraging. Words, particularly when it came to heart-to-hearts like this, were never Chrom's strongest suits, that was Emmeryn's expertise. And, he was sure, the last thing Anali needed was to be reminded of her lack of memories. But what else could he say to something like that?

Anali just nodded in response. "Thank you, though," said Anali, she began to fiddle with her fingers, her gaze was locked onto the floor. "I know you just said not to think about it, but I doubt I'd have this sort of security if anyone else had found me."

"You don't need to thank me Anali. It was a pleasure to help."

"Even if they were right?" Anali asked in reply. "Even if I really was planning to kill your sister, or even you?"

"Well I would hope that's not the case," laughed Chrom.

"I'm serious!" snapped Anali. "What if Frederick or Vaike are right about me?"

Vaike, of course. As far as he knew, Vaike did have a bit of an outburst when he met Anali. Chrom understood why, but it really seemed out of character for him. "But they're not," Chrom replied.

Anali let out a dry laugh, unsure of whether or not it was out of the absurdity of Chrom's words. "Lets…" Anali thought for a moment, then shook her head again. "Let's hope you can recognize danger when you see it, then."

"Well," the prince couldn't help but smirk. "In spite of popular belief amongst the Shepherds, I'm not that oblivious."

Of course, he had been wrong before.

* * *

**Authors Note: **This was pretty much _Friendship Moments; The Chapter_. Some moments, particularly Stahl's, did come from some of his support conversations. And Kellam. I actually did forget about him when I wrote the first draft of Chapter Two! Ugh! Don't look at me! Don't look at me! Buuut, I found that it kinda worked out. And I'm gonna admit it, the only reason I included Maribelle was so I could have the 'I'm not naked' moment. Don't look at me!

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four  
Sickle to Sword**

A full three weeks passed since Anali was first brought to the garrison. Within days she entered a daily routine; mornings were started with a warm-up (usually stretching, and a run around the training yard), then sword work with Frederick. And then, just before or after lunch Anali would try her hands at other weaponry with Stahl and Kellam. If she could help it, Anali tried to squeeze in a bit of magic practice. Her afternoons were spent here and there, either in the stables helping Sumia care for the horses and pegasi, or reading in either the library or her quarters.

In the library she would read up on magic and battle strategy, figuring she and the others could stay alive if she understood battle flow. That, and there was the fact that Anali found past war strategies to be very fascinating. Battles that were won against all odds were her favorite.

However, Anali still go at little fidgety and nervous when she first found the library. It was a little foolish of her, the library was open to anyone. She usually found Miriel there with her nose buried deep in her book while she muttered away under her breath and took notes. Anali left her alone to do her own thing, just about everyone else did.

At the end of her first week Anali found someone new in the library. It was a young man with long, dirty blond hair tied back into a low braid. He was dressed an off-white and light blue tunic, with off-white slacks. At the moment, the man was sound asleep on one of the tables, using a small stack of parchment as a pillow.

Anali gripped her chin wondering who he was. She was pretty sure she had seen him somewhere, but she wasn't quite sure where. Possibly in the mess hall, she may have seen him at dinner.

What was she supposed to do? Should she just leave him sleeping there and go about her business? It certainly seemed like the obvious thing to do. Anali tried to tiptoe around the library, but it seemed like that only succeeded in making the floor creak. She tried to ignore the creaking, and the man, as best as possible. Now, where was that book she was reading yesterday?

"So you're the Plegian Chrom brought in?" Immediately, Anali felt a chill run up her spine and her hair stood up on end. "Must be really something else for him to make you a Shepherd."

Slowly, Anali turned her head around so that she could look over her shoulder. The man had his head lifted up from the table, his arms were still on the flat surface. His tired eyes were a light shade of brown, his long bangs framed his heart-shaped face. "Sorry, I didn't mean to…" Anali's voice trailed off. She cleared her throat. "I-I'm-"

"I know who you are," said the man. He sat himself up straight and lowered his arms, revealing a small stack of parchment that he used for a pillow. "I was there when Lissa brought you into the garrison."

Wait, really? He was? Anali couldn't remember. Then again, she did not remember her introduction to Kellam. But even then, she knew Kellam's name. "Sorry," she said. "I don't remember-"

"That's because I never introduced myself," the man said, collecting his papers, quill and inkwell into his arms. "I'm usually not one for introductions. _Or_ people."

"So I won't be learning your name, then?" asked Anali. She retracted back, she shouldn't have been so straight foreword just then. "I'm sorry, it's just… if we're going to be working on the same team, I just figured-"

"Stop talking," the man cut her off. He placed his belongings into his satchel. "There is no point in delaying it, I suppose. I know for a _fact_ that if we are ever in battle together, I do not want to be called 'you.'"

He slung his bag over his shoulder and walked pass Anali. "You may call me Liam."

"Nice meeting you," she called. Liam did not answer. Anali's shoulder shook as she shuttered. What a cheery guy.

At supper that evening Anali explained what happened in the library to Elaine, and her friend Regan. Regan was a sixteen-year-old trainee in the Pegasus Knights. She had a petite built to her, with red-gold hair that was cut in a pageboy style. "That's just Liam," said Regan with a wave of her hand, "he doesn't get along with people period, so it's not you personally. Ironic, really, his whole purpose is to boost morale. But he's got a gift for sucking all the joy out of the room."

"I like the silent stoic type," said Elaine. With her fist balled up, she tapped her knuckles together three times. "I think it makes him mysterious and dreamy…"

Anali could not help but roll her eyes. She had known Elaine to be a well-mannered, down to earth kind of girl, it was a little out of character for her to get boy-crazy like this. "More like, 'I think it makes him too old,'' said Anali, "he looks like he's almost thirty. How old are you again? Ten?"

"_Sixteen_!" Elaine snapped with her nose in the air. "I am of marrying age. What's wrong with looking for a good suitor now, anyway?"

"Oh, here we go," Regan rolled her eyes. She tapped Elaine on the back of her head. "The reason we shouldn't be looking for suitors now, is because we're still, technically, students, and romance is a distraction. And, while Liam has never done anything too heinous, and regardless of his age, I don't see him as suitor material. I don't even think he sees himself as such."

"I can dream, can't I?" sighed Elaine.

Regan sighed herself, then glanced back at Anali. "Anyway, I wouldn't worry about Liam that much, Anali," she said, "that's just how he is, cold shoulder and all."

Perhaps Anali was being a little paranoid, but she doubted Regan's words. Maybe Liam really was just a bit misanthropic. The problem was that for every friendly character Anali met in Ylisstol it seemed like there was always someone who was cold and distrustful close behind them. She wanted to think, as time passed, that things would get reasonably comfortable, that not everyone was expecting her to just blow up the palace and the capital city any day now.

But how was Anali supposed to show them that she was a not a threat if they did not give her the chance? Anali had not spoken to Vaike since that first day, Sully's less than subtle warning was not forgotten, and Liam looked like he couldn't have gotten out of there fast enough. Frederick and Phila were still watching her like she was some poisonous insect that needed to be squashed, and she was pretty sure there were some soldier's that turned head whenever Anali walked by.

Time passed, and Anali continued training one-on-one with Frederick. According to him, her improvement was nothing short of remarkable. Perhaps Anali really did study swordplay a bit before her memory loss? It was possible, but Anali really had no way of knowing. By the end of the week, Anali was actually deemed ready to begin sparring with the other Shepherds.

On the morning of her third Wednesday at the garrison Anali collided swords with Stahl, her sparring partner of the day. She made sure to not stay in one spot for too long. That was something Frederick drilled into her (besides '_breathe, woman, breathe!'_); don't stop moving. "What you lack in strength," Frederick told her, "you make up for in speed. You're clever enough to use that to your advantage, are you not?"

"Well, I'd like to think so," Anali replied. Of course, that had really yet to be seen as it did not quite matter who won or lost in a sparring match.

Anali kept her feet moving during her sparring match with Stahl. She kept her eyes locked on him in an attempt to find the flaw in his style. He obviously had the skill under his belt, and he outsized Anali, so she wasn't going to win this with brute strength. While the only time she had seen Stahl in battle was in their sparring matches, he explained to her that in a real life or death battle Stahl would be mounted on his horse in a full suit of armor, not unlike Frederick or Sully.

So, in a proper battle Stahl would have a height advantage against someone on foot. His mid-section must have been well protected with his armor on. Anali's brow nearly rose when it dawned on her. That was it! That was what she was looking for.

She tightened her grip on her sword, and thrusted herself forward. The sword collided with Stahl's, who immediately blocked, then counter attacked with a downward strike. Anali dodged by leaping to the side, then threw her arm forward, right towards Stahl's midsection. He turned towards his back, and swung his own sword, aimed at Anali's side.

Anali blocked, but it did not put enough space between her and Stahl's sword hand. Her forefinger ended up getting nicked; it stung and was possibly bleeding but Anali would put some vulnerary on it later. She pushed the opposing blade away from her, then swung it at Stahl's side. Things were beginning to pick up. Anali was no longer playing defense, she was fighting back with vigor. Blades sailed through the air, then collided with an audible _clink_.

She lifted her sword for a downward strike, Stahl prepared to block. At the last second, Anali changed her swords path. She took a step back to give herself more space, then she thrusted her sword forward, stopping just inches way from Stahl's solar plexus; had this been a real fight, he would have been impaled completely. "I believe that counts as a yield," Frederick said, suddenly walking up to the pair with his arms folded behind his back. "I must admit, once again Anali, you're improvement is remarkable."

"Thank you," Anali said, sheathing her sword. Even she knew to take compliments whenever Frederick gave them. Maybe it was a sign that things were improving between them.

"However," Frederick continued, without missing a beat, "your breathing still needs work, and you need to work on your blocking, or else you will lose a finger."

Easy come, easy go.

"Aw, come on, Frederick," said Stahl. "Regardless, Anali didn't do that bad for someone who only had three weeks t-"

"_You_," Frederick's attention turned to Stahl, "you could do to watch your mid-section with your armor on. That was how Anali got the better of you. Just because you're mounted, and armored does not give you the excuse to be careless."

Chuckling weakly, Stahl rubbed the back of his neck. "Stern as always, Frederick," sighed Anali.

"Quite so," Chrom agreed. He walked up to the three and stopped with his arms crossed over his chest. "In all the years I've known him, Frederick only smiles when he's about to bring down the axe."

"Milord," greeted Frederick, "is there something-"

"Peace, Frederick. Am I not allowed to drop in to see the militia I lead?"

"Of course not, milord, that's not to imply-"

Frederick was cut off abruptly by the snickering from Stahl and Anali. The two were turn towards each other, Anali with her hand balled up in front of her mouth to hide her grin. Stahl, on the other hand, had a tooth-bearing, lopsided grin.

The brown haired man cleared his throat, and immediately the two straightened themselves up as though they were standing like that the entire time. "Well, as you can see, these two could stand to fetch some _buckets of water_," Frederick said coolly, and Anali was nearly floored.

Standing still for ten minutes while holding a bucket of water in each hand was a favorite punishment of Frederick's. However, Anali mostly saw it happen to Vaike; he had a bit of a habit of forgetting his weapon. Of course, it wasn't exactly just as a means of discipline, water buckets were heavy, therefore a great heavy lifting exercise for Frederick's Fanatical Fitness Hour; giving 'fanatical' a whole new meaning.

Which could almost be the slogan.

"Aw, come now, Frederick," Chrom teased. "Wasn't I just hearing you compliment Anali's improvement?"

"Yes, you were, milord," said Frederick. "But she's nowhere near ready to take on a master swordsman."

"Well, not with strength alone," Stahl pointed out. "Give her a minute to size up her opponent and Anali's sure to tip the scales."

"Ah-ha…" Anali chuckled weakly. She rubbed the back of her neck while she looked down at the ground, her cheeks started to turn pink. "I needed more than a minute with you, I'm sure."

Chrom laughed at this. "That may be, but you quickly turned it around."

"Are we sure you haven't studied before hand, Anali?" Stahl asked her.

She nodded. "A couple of times I've seen or done things that felt familiar," explained Anali. "I've never experienced that with a sword in hand."

"Still, three weeks and you're besting someone who's done this for a few years is no easy feat."

"At this rate, Anali," said Chrom, "you'll be fighting beside us for Ylisse."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," mumbled Anali. "There hasn't been any trouble since I was first brought in, so there's no telling if-"

"Milord! Sir Frederick!" someone called.

It was Elaine, the skirt of her green dress was balled up in her hands as she ran up to them. Skidding to a stop, Elaine was bent over double, her hands on her knees; she panted, trying to catch her breath. Swallowing, she stood up, her hands gripped the white apron on her dress. "Lady Phila received a messenger hawk from the Farfort," she explained, "she wishes to discuss it with the both of you."

"All right, thank you Elaine," Frederick said with a nod of the head. "Milord-"

"Yes, Frederick, I heard," said Chrom. He turned back to Anali. "I suppose we'll discuss your progress a little later, then."

"Guess so," she said. When both Chrom and Frederick were out of earshot, she turned to Stahl and Elaine then asked, "What's the Farfort?"

"A farming village in the southeast," Stahl explained. He seated himself onto the ground beside Elaine. "Exalt Calhoun had it built about fifteen years ago for other purposes, but by the time it was finished it was no longer needed."

"But it was built on a prime spot for agriculture, and livestock. So…" Elaine shrugged. "Farmers it is. I've never been there myself, but I hear it's a pretty quiet place. I can't imagine what's happened there."

"I'm sure it's not that bad," murmured Anali.

"I don't know," sighed Stahl. He leaned back with his hands firmly planted on the ground to keep himself from toppling over. "See, it's on a small island a few miles away from the mainlands. The messenger hawk wouldn't be sent unless there was an emergency."

Anali peered up at the palace with a furrowed brow. Since she arrived at the garrison they had a name for the creatures that attacked them; Risen. There was still plenty about them that they did not know, and many rumors filled Ylisstol's daily gossip. If there were problems in the Farfort, just going by what Anali was now finding out about this place, Risen seemed appeared to be the most likely candidate.

As the next couple of hours ticked by Anali heard several rumors about what had happened in the Farfort; Risen, bandits, Plegians and the like. There was no conformation until lunch, when Chrom and Frederick, dressed in full armor, returned to the garrison. At the time Anali sat with Sully, Sumia, Stahl and Kellam in the mess hall as the four recounted stories about the early days with the Shepherds, when they were first founded. "And then _bam_! Down goes Sumia, and ten historical suits of armor and weaponry," Sully said, finishing her story.

"No!" Anali gaped, trying to keep herself from laughing. She looked Sumia in the face, the poor girl was turning beat red. "_Really_?"

"Sumia, in all the time I've known you I know you have two left feet," said Kellam. "But, really?"

"It was an accident!" said Sumia. She tried to hide her reddened face despite laughing at her own expense.

At that Stahl nearly fell out of his seat laughing while Kellam tried to keep himself under control. Anali found herself somewhere in between. It was all too easy for her to picture Sumia tripping over her own feet and taking a bit of Ylisse's history with her. But how mortified poor Sumia must have been at the time.

"Can we simmer down, please!" Frederick said with a firm, commanding tone. Silence fell upon the mess hall within a matter of seconds. "Thank you."

Anali, who hadn't notice Frederick or Chrom enter the mess hall, kept her eyes up front. She knew that it must have had something to do with the messenger hawk, and her stomach nearly dropped. "Late this morning, we received a messenger hawk from the Farfort," Chrom explained. "It would appear that earlier this week a group of bandits captured the fort."

Murmurs erupted in the mess hall. It was just bandits, right? At least it wasn't Risen. It was something they could understand. Frederick silenced the Shepherds once more, allowing Chrom to continue. "I want seven volunteers, once we've got that sorted, we'll be marching out within the hour."

"The Vaike's ready to go _now_!" Vaike exclaimed rising to his feet.

"Good," said Frederick. "Anyone else?"

"Hell, ya I'm doing this," said Sully. "Haven't had any action in ages."

"Me too," Stahl and Kellam said in unison.

That was already four, five assuming Frederick was going to. Given that he was already in full armor, Anali did not doubt that was the case. With her nose firmly stuck in her book, Miriel stood up with a hand raised, making her volunteer number six.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Anali took a deep breath in. She stood up before she slowly opened her eyes. Sumia looked back at her with a raised brow, undoubtedly surprised by Anali's choice. The Pegasus Knight glanced back at Chrom, he was looking at Anali, smiling. It made Sumia wonder what would have happened if Anali did not volunteer. "You have an hour to gather your effects," announced Frederick. "After that, we will be marching to the Farfort with or without you."

Immediately the seven volunteers got up and headed to their rooms. Anali put on the slacks, and kilt she was found in. However she found that she did not care for the original tunic. The color, she found, was dull and lacked taste. So Anali exchanged it for a two-toned purple tunic that was sleeveless with a high collar. On her hands, she wore a couple of leather bands that successfully hid her Mark. Her coat topped it off; against everyone's sage advice, Anali just couldn't part with it for that long. She had done her hair up in a couple of pigtails, one tendril or the other always managed to find its way over her shoulder. Her bangs hung freely, framing her face.

Anali fiddled with the belts around her waist. She had gotten a sling to carry her tome with easy access while the other belt carried her sheath. When Anali declared she was ready Sumia looked her over and had to critique the way Anali put on her belts. "It's too loose!" she chided, lightly smacking Anali on the shoulder. "You'll lose your effects like that long before you find yourself in battle."

She tightened Anali's belts for her, which caused a deep blush on her face. She had come out of her shell a bit within the last couple of weeks, but she still valued her personal space. "Now, you be careful out there," Sumia said when she finished. "I want to see you home in one piece, okay?"

"I will," Anali replied with an awkward smile. "Try not to cause too much trouble while we're gone."

"Very funny," smiled Sumia.

As Frederick had promised, they left Ylisstol after an hour on the dot. It felt a little odd to see those Anali was willing to call her friends or comrades in their effects. But, then again Anali probably looked a little odd herself.

By mid afternoon they reached the docks, from there, they would sail out for the next few hours. Their vessel was relatively small compared to other countries, it was mostly used for importing goods to and from the fort. However it was the most they could do for transportation, as Ylisse had no naval fleet.

Vaike leaned against the starboard side of the vessel, his elbows leaned over the parapet, and his eyes locked on the Plegian woman. She was practically broadcasting her origins to the world with that coat she wore.

Ever since Lissa first brought her in, and Vaike's initial outburst at seeing her mark, Lissa had given him a stern warning, mostly over the fact that he actually grabbed her. "Look, I'm not going to force you to like her," Lissa told him when the two stood alone in the hallway, "but none of us approve of attacking a fellow Shepherd when we're not training."

What where they thinking?!

What possessed Chrom to think it was a good idea to bring in some Plegian trash and expect Vaike to work with her? She wasn't just some Plegian either, she was one of the _Grimleal_. Her coat and the mark on her hand proved as much. She was a follower of the fell dragon Grima! The very dragon that tried to wipe out humanity!

Okay, yes, this one woman couldn't be held personally responsible for the events during the war, but her father could have very well been apart of the Plegian armies. Her kind could have been responsible for the deaths of many Ylissean men, women, and children. The war left a lot of street orphans in its wake, and only a handful of them could find themselves lucky enough to have a secure future.

Besides, she could have been amongst those responsible for Ylisse's problems now.

"Keep glaring like that and I'm sure you'll wear a hole into the ship," Chrom said, suddenly at Vaike's side. When did he get there?

"I'm not glaring," Vaike mumbled, his eyes locked on the ship deck.

"Of course not," said Chrom. He leaned against the parapet with his arms crossed flat on the surface. "You were just staring at Anali really hard."

He peered back at the woman, she was crouched down on the deck, leaning against the bow, she was certainly looking a little green in the face. Anali was clutching her stomach, and her eyes squeezed shut as she breathed steadily in and out. At Vaike's side Chrom sighed. "I'm sorry," said Chrom. "But I would've thought you were above this sort of thing."

"_Excuse_ me?" Vaike said, trying not too sound too offended.

"You and Anali," Chrom explained, "the hostility. I would have thought you'd be a little more welcoming of her."

"You mean like how I would have thought you could see through a Plegian's trap?" Vaike countered.

While he couldn't blame his Captain and rival for not understanding the life he and the other street urchins had growing up. But, Chrom had to have known better than to trust some Plegian whore. Especially when one considered the events that lead up to their first meeting. "I mean, think about it," Vaike said before Chrom could argue with him. "You leave Elrond, after Plegians attacked the village, then find a Plegian woman on the ground, covered in blood. There was only one death in Elrond, right? And you find a woman _covered in blood_?"

Chrom forced himself to look away. He understood full well what Vaike was suggesting, but the idea sounded so preposterous. Anali murdering a woman, a performer? Besides, if Anali was there in Elrond, why was she in the field like that? Why would she run instead of following her superiors? And that's not even considering how Anali ended up in the field in the first place. Some things didn't quite add up.

"I'm not the only one thinkin' it," Vaike added. "I'd bet every Sun I have to my name that Frederick, and Phila made the connection already."

"I don't believe Anali could have done that, Vaike," Chrom said calmly, "that's just not in her character."

Vaike could hardly resist the urge to roll his eyes. Partially because Chrom was being both stupid and ridiculous, and partially because it was typical Prince Chrom. He swore the history books would know him as Prince Chrom the Trusting, or the aptly put, Prince Chrom the Gullible. Even if she was being truthful about her memory loss, Chrom did not know Anali at all. So this murderer could have been in her character. "I swear, man," Vaike sighed, turning himself around to look at the horizon. "You are far too trusting. You're going to let your death waltz right in."

"Please," sighed Chrom, "I'm not _that_ oblivious."

* * *

When they docked, Frederick lead the campaign down the dirt trail that lead to the forest, and would lead to the Farfort a few miles in. Anali road on horseback with Kellam, and tried desperately not to fall over as she looked around. She spent the first fifteen minutes or so just gawking at the scenery, but then night was starting to fall, soon enough the stars were shining and the fireflies were out.

All that was heard was the _clop, clop, clop _of the horses, and the chirping of birds and insects. It was a calm night, almost ideal for a campout, if only it wasn't so chilly. There were a few murmurs from the Shepherds, but no one was making conversation, which was probably for the best.

They were, according to Frederick, a good two miles away from the Farfort when there was a sudden rustling from the trees. Instantly the Shepherds dismounted their horses, some more gracefully than others. Chrom, however kept one hand up, signally for everyone to hold fire. The rustling grew louder and louder as a silhouette could be seen in the near distance. The figure barreled out of the woods revealing a boy, no older than fifteen. Panic was written on his tanned face as he stumbled over his feet. He had on a copper pot on his head as a makeshift helmet, but one could still make out unruly brown hair underneath. "Halp!" the boy exclaimed as he fell over onto his knees. "You gots to help us!"

"Easy lad," Chrom said, dismounting his horse. "Slow down. You're from the Farfort, yes?"

"Y-Yes, milord!" the boy blurted out as he rose to his feet with his back straight as a board. "That would be correct, Your Graciousness."

"Perhaps we should hold off on the titles for now," quipped Frederick. "Why don't we start with your name, my boy."

"Donny!" the boy introduced with a great heap of enthusiasm. He cleared his throat and said, much calmer the second time around, "Er, that is, Donnel."

"All right… Donnel. Can you tell us what happened?"

"Those rotten-toothed, pig-stinkin' dastards just ransacked and attacked us in the middle of the night!" Donnel explained. "Took the fort 'bout a week ago and started takein' all we've got for food, belongin's and… other things. Keepin' us locked in the fort, not letting' us work on our crops, and suckin' us dry of everything we gots."

"Sounds like we got here in time then," murmured Kellam.

"Barely," Stahl added.

"I'm the only one who got away," continued Donnel, "just barely. They started roundin' up the local maidens to haul 'em off…"

Donnel's voice wavered, his gaze fell upon the ground as his hands tightened into fits. His shoulder's began to shake, it was abundantly clear by Donnel's face that he was trying so very hard not to start crying right then and there. Shaking his head, Donnel quickly wiped his eyes with the heel of his hand. "Please, sir!" the boy pleated, looking up at Chrom, "You gots to save them folks! My ma's one of 'em and… She's all I got in this world!"

"Don't worry, Donny," Chrom said, clapping the boy on the shoulder, "we'll save your ma. How much farther is it to the fort from here?"

"'Bout a mile, milord. But they've gots the draw bridge guarded all hours of the day. I was hearin' there archer's accuracy's somethin' to be reckoned with."

"Ah, great!" growled Vaike. "The one time we could've used Virion and we left him back at Ylisstol."

"It would not matter," Miriel said, adjusting her glasses, "he would've surely been outnumbered, and the bandits would still have the home field advantage."

"Perhaps we should send for reinforcements, milord," suggested Frederick. "We should be able to overpower them easily with vast numbers."

"But by then it might be too late for the village girls," Stahl pointed out. "Maybe we could just find another way in."

"Hey, if you're volunteering, I don't mind," said Vaike.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It mean's I'm not getting an arrow in my ass."

"Well I don't see you coming up with any better ideas!" Sully snapped.

"We could always wait for the archer's to change shifts…" Kellam suggested weakly, "just a thought…

"Neither are you!" Vaike shouted at Sully. He gestured to Miriel. "If you want bright ideas, why not turn to our resident egghead?!"

"Please don't drag me into this childish feud," Miriel sighed with a roll of her eyes.

"All right, all right!" Chrom called, raising one hand into the air. "If we start arguing amongst ourselves now we'll never be able to-"

His pleas fell upon deaf ears. Voices began to morph into one, shouting different ideas all at once, and shouting at the others to come up with something better. If they didn't have archers themselves, they could use magic. But they were still too high up. Well maybe they could sneak in through the front. Well, if it was that easy then they would have found more people than just Donnel. Then they should send for more men, or at least a few Pegasus Knights. By the time they get here it could be far too late for the girls, and who knew what they had planed for them afterwards. And Pegasus Knight's wouldn't last against archers.

Anali stared, dumbfounded and confused. Please, _please_, tell her that they were not always like this. This arguing amongst themselves was wasting just as much time as sending for more help. Perhaps they _did_ need more men, but Anali could understand why they went with nine units, it drew in less attention.

Okay… okay, there was a way to siege the fort with small numbers, they just needed to think about it. Anali distanced herself from the group, their bickering was not making it easy for her to think. She tore off a thin twig from the closest tree, then plucked off the leaves. She crouched down and began to draw a rectangle into the dirt. "Donny," Anali called over her shoulder. The village boy looked just as confused, and possibly more frustrated, than Anali had not even a minute ago. "Can you help me map out the fort? I don't think I've ever been there before."

"Well, sure," Donnel said. He crouched down beside Anali. He took the twig from her and began to draw a few more shapes inside the rectangle for the homes, barns, shops, and other buildings. He finished by circling two corners of the rectangle, and a third one in between the two. "They've got guards posted right here. And…" He drew a fourth circle, off centre in the heart of the fort. "That's where they're keepin' the women they rounded up to be hulled off."

"Okay," Anali nodded, "now is there somewhere the bandits usually occupy?"

"Mayor Grey's house," Donnel replied; he drew a circle diagonally across from the last circle. "They've been keepin' the Mayor and his wife in the house at all hours. But usually they're at the tavern."

He drew a sixth circle a few centimeters way from the circle representing the drawbridge. "Okay," Anali nodded, the wheels in her head were beginning to turn. "Donny, is there anything they wouldn't know about the village? Anything at all?"

"Em…" Donnel thought for a moment, crossing his arms over his chest. What didn't they know about the village? His first thought was how hard working, good, and chummy everyone was, but he doubted that was what she meant. "Well, there's the well. You can actually swim into it from the lake outside the fort. Hehe… We liked to give everyone a scare by doing that as youngins."

Anali's brow rose, a well? That could work. "Oh, and there's this old wagon 'bout a mile into the woods," Donnel explained. "'S been there for as long as I can remember."

"What has?" Chrom asked, startling the pair.

"A wagon Donnel mentioned," explained Anali. "And depending on it's current state," she crossed her arms over her chest with an all too proud grin on her face. "I think I know how we can reclaim the fort by sunrise."

Anali's plan was actually quite simple, but at the same time there were plenty of places where it could just collapse on itself and there goes the Farfort, and about half the Shepherds. Everything needed to be timed right, if someone acted to soon or too late, everything would quickly go to hell.

"This is gonna get us all killed," mumbled Vaike. He pulled himself into the wagon; it creaked each time he shifted his weight.

The abandoned wagon played would play a huge part in it, but the thing looked like it would collapse on itself at any time. Sully's horse, Baldulf, was deemed the fastest and strongest out of them all, and thus would be the one pulling as he could make a fast escape if something went horribly wrong.

"It just needs to hold out long enough," Chrom said, his cape and pauldron were removed from his person. A good half of the Shepherds had removed their armor and placed it in the wagon. All it would do was weigh them down and make unnecessary noise. "Does everybody understand what their job is?"

"Um…" Kellam raised his hand. "What group am I in again?"

"Getting in is, obviously, the tricky part," said Anali. "Stealth is everything for the first group as much as timing for the second group is."

"Donny," Chrom said to the village boy, "I want you to stay close."

"Beg pardon, milord? You mean…?" Donnel's voice raised a couple of octaves. Anali hoped against hope that he hadn't given them away. Donnel looked from Chrom, to the fort, then back. "I… I can't fight, sir! I ain't never even stuck a pig before!"

"Oh, sorry," Chrom said quickly, "I just thought… I mean…" He shook his head. "Look, just stay here. You'll be fine."

Donnel's hands tightened into a couple of fists. "I wish I was as strong as you sirs and madams," he said, his voice sounded as tight as his throat probably was. "Kick that scum out single handed, I would!"

"Then you should fight with us," Chrom offered, placing a hand on Donnel's shoulder. "That's the best way to grow stronger."

"But I ain't-"

"No man is born a warrior, Donny. And farm work makes for fine training - a sickle's not far from a sword, after all. Bandits may be tougher than wheat, but the principle's the same."

Donnel rubbed the back of his neck, then took in a deep breath. "A-All right, milord. As you say, I'm no warrior. But they're my people. I gots to do what I can!"

"Good, is everyone ready?" Frederick asked, and was promptly met with mumbles and groans. "Ah, yes. _That's_ the sort of attitude you want to hear before a liberation."

"Well maybe if the plan wasn't so flimsy," grumbled Sully.

"Sully!" Chrom shot back.

"What? I'm not the only one thinking it!"

"No, no, you're not," Anali said, pushing her bangs back. There was an edge to her voice; she would happily mock the person who came up with this idea if that person wasn't Anali herself.

Anali followed the first group, which consisted of Chrom, Sully, Stahl, and Donnel to a lake, a quarter of a mile away from the Farfort. According to Donnel, there was a pipeline that connected the lake to five wells in the village, giving them access to fresh water. "You sure we can make it through the well?" Stahl asked skeptically.

"Well sure," Donnel replied, "ah used to do it all the time as a kid."

"So you can make the swim then?" asked Anali; to which Donnel nodded in response. "Okay, that's really good to know. Yes, we definitely want you with the first group, you know the village better than any of us, and you'll know where the bandits are stationed. Are you okay with that?"

"I should be able to handle that."

The white haired woman nodded. Suddenly the journey here seemed so long ago. This morning, Anali would not have imagined herself coming up with the plan to liberate the Farfort. If someone died it would be on Anali and her bright idea.

Donnel lead Sully and Stahl into the lake as Anali pushed her bangs back again; she bit her lower lip. This was it, no turning back. Her heart was beginning to pound in her chest with a force that surely shook her ribcage. _Don't run away,_ Anali told herself over and over. _Don't run away. Don't run away. Do not run away._

The hand that placed itself on her shoulder startled her enough to release her grip on her hair. Chrom was looking at her with a very slight smile. "It's going to be fine, Anali," he said.

She shook her head, slowly. "How do you know?" she asked. "What make's you so sure?"

"Because you have a talent for battle strategy. I haven't seen anyone able to size up their enemies with such accuracy as you. This isn't exactly the first strategy you've come up with."

Anali hugged her left arm close to her. "Maybe…" she murmured. As much as Anali wanted to avoid needless bloodshed of her comrades, and the innocent villagers, she still needed to stay focused. She would be no good to the Shepherds if all she did was worry. "Be careful, Chrom."

"You too," replied Chrom.

Anali gave him a brief nod before she hurried back to the wagon. When they first split into two groups, it was on the basis of who knew they could make the swim for sure. That left Chrom, Donnel, Sully and Stahl. Neither Vaike or Frederick were certain if they could make it in one breath. Miriel admitted she wasn't that strong of a swimmer, and Anali wasn't even sure if she _could_ swim period. In the end, they were divvied up pretty evenly, so it worked out.

Chrom waded into the water until he could no longer feel the lakebed beneath his feet. He could always swim very well, childhood incidents in the bath not withstanding, and presuming they handle this safely, Chrom should be able to make it to the well in one breath.

When they got to the rocky wall, Donnel took in a deep breath, then went under. One by one the Shepherds mimicked this; it was hard, with little to no light, but Chrom was vaguely able to see Donnel disappear into the pipe. The pipe itself was a tight squeeze, but they were still able to kick to propel themselves, however using their arms was out of the question. And at once, Chrom was glad Anali had enough foresight to suggest they leave their armor behind. Not only would it just weigh them down, but it would have been even harder to make the swim.

Donnel pushed off the lakebed and swam up; they were in already. Chrom followed behind the village boy; his head broke through the water in a matter of seconds. He brushed his dripping bangs out of his eyes as Stahl and Sully came up for air shortly after him. There were a few voices in the distance, so there was a chance they could climb out unnoticed given their judgment was right. Donnel pointed to the wall where several bricks had been pulled out to create hand and footholds. It should not have been that surprising, given Donnel explained that the village children did this sort of thing a lot.

Chrom grabbed onto the hold and slowly began to pull himself up. Once fully out of the water he paused, no one heard him. He gestured for the others to follow him, but slowly. One by one, they climbed out of the well. Chrom gestured for Donnel to follow him, while Sully and Stahl snuck over to Mayor Grey's house.

Donnel lead the way to the holdings within the heart of the village; both kept within the shadows. The younger boy stopped behind someone's house, then gestured around the corner. A man leaned against the door, he looked ready to conk out at any time. Chrom held up one hand to Donnel, the message behind it was clear; wait.

Chrom creped around the corner of the house, and the string of homes beside it; stalking closer to the near-sleeping man. At the edge of the line, Chrom could see the building and the man in plain sight. "What's this you're yammerin' about?" he heard. Instinctively, his hand went to the hilt of Falchion.

"This guy's claiming to have the village's imports from Regna Ferox," another man replied.

"It's the middle of the night!"

"He was sayin' he had wagon trouble."

So Frederick and Anali's group were doing okay then. For now at least. There wasn't a signal from Sully and Stahl yet; if they could last just another few minutes they were right where they wanted to be. The voices were muffled as their respective owners walked off. Stealing the moment, Chrom lunched forward.

He wrapped one arm around the man's neck and pulled him against the crook of his neck. Chrom used his other arm to keep the man's head steady. The man, who had just snapped out of his daze, struggled in Chrom's grip; struggling to breathe, struggling to break free. His breathing stopped, his limbs fell limp at his sides, and his eyes were half-open.

Chrom laid the man down and rummaged through his person. The key ring was attached to his belt; Chrom quickly undid the man's belt and removed the key ring. As soon as he got onto his feet Donnel was at Chrom's side. The hooting of an owl echoed across the village, the telltale sign that Stahl and Sully were successful in rescuing Mayor Grey and his wife. "Phase one, done," murmured Donnel.

"We're not out of the woods yet, Donny," Chrom reminded him as he unlocked the door.

"Ah know. I'm just a little amazed we've made it this far."

"It's not because we did this alone, I'll tell you that much," said Chrom; he unlocked the door and slowly opened it.

Inside, the village maidens were huddled in the back of the room. Some of them looked as young as thirteen. _Thirteen._ They were hardly young women. Did those bastards have no sense of decency? One of the girls stood up, as though trying to put herself between the potential threat and the others. By the look on her face alone Chrom was willing to believe she would wrestle a bear if it were to keep these girls safe.

"Miss. Rosalind?" Donnel questioned, he lightly pushed Chrom to the side. His smile brightened at the sight of the young woman. "Miss. Rosalind! So glad to see you're safe 'n sound! I woulda thought for sure they'd sent you away by now."

"I could say the same about you!" Rosalind shot back. "I was just hearin' from Roddick that you managed to escape." She looked up at Chrom, her brow arched for a moment before her eyes widened. "And you found the Shepherds? How on earth'd you manage that?"

"By accident…" Donnel admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

Chrom cleared his throat. "Donny, I'm sure you and your… friend, have a bit to catch up on," he said, "but we may very well be pressed for time."

"Ah! Sorry," Donnel said quickly, his face began to turn red.

"You're here to save us?" one of the maidens asked as she rose to her feet.

"Please, Sire," one of the thirteen-year-olds spoke up, "I wanna go home."

"Don't worry," Chrom assured them. "After tonight everyone will be home, safe and sound. First we want to get you out of here, and to the Mayor's as a safe house."

"But they'll catch us!" one of the girls argued.

"And? I'd rather die than experience the alternative!"

"Die?!"

"I want my Ma and Pa!"

"I don't wanna die!"

They were cut off by the shouting outside; even from there, Chrom could smell smoke. Looks like the second group reached their limit. "We need to move," Chrom said, unsheathing Falchion. "Now!"

* * *

"Be careful, Chrom," said Anali.

"You too," replied Chrom.

Turning on her heel, Anali half-jogged back to the wagon. Frederick had seated himself on the wagon with the reigns in hand. The spare traveling cloaks he had packed were laid out on the wagon with Chrom's groups, and Frederick's, armor. In a fluid movement, Anali pulled herself onto the wagon, which promptly moaned under her weight.

"These men aren't stupid," she heard Frederick mutter to himself. He covered himself with one of the traveling cloaks. "They will know I'm up to something very quickly."

"I know," said Anali. "Our goal isn't to make them believe what your telling them, just distract them long enough to keep Chrom and the others from being seen. If you show up in the middle of the night, claming to have exported goods they're not expecting, that might rile up a bit of confusion."

"I sure as hell hope you know what you're doing," Vaike said with a glare.

"I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't," replied Anali.

"Hey, guys, maybe we should keep quiet," Kellam suggested. "Just a thought."

Vaike, Miriel and Anali looked at the back corner of the wagon were Kellam was seated, waiting for them to get started. How long had he been there?!

Vaike was about ready to shout, just as startled as Anali was, he probably would have blown their cover if Anali and Miriel had not each slapped a hand over his mouth. "_Kellam_!" Frederick hissed through clenched teeth. "What are you doing here?! I thought you were supposed to be with Chrom's group."

"Was I?" Kellam asked, genuinely confused. "No one really said…"

Anali felt her jaw hang open; where _was_ Kellam supposed to be? He did not say he could make the swim when asked… or did he? Why couldn't Anali remember? Or, better yet, why didn't she see that Kellam was there in the first place? "You know what, it doesn't matter," Anali said; she began to use her hands to talk with her. "It works out either way. We're just going to waste time trying to figure it out. Right now, we really need to huddle together."

Following Anali's instructions the four squatted down in the back of the wagon with the travel cloaks covering them. "Moment of truth," Frederick murmured to himself.

Clicking his tongue, Frederick snapped the reigns, and Baldulf began to walk at a steady pace. The wagon creaked and lightly swayed from side to side. Anali suddenly worried that it might fall apart if they hit the slightest bump in the road. And why did she not think about this before they set off?

They remained silent, aside from the _clop, clop_ of Baldulf, and the creaking of the rickety old wagon. Anali could not tell you how long they were there for, five minutes? Fifteen seconds? Five seconds? The anticipation made it all uncomfortably long.

The wagon slowed to a stop, followed suit by someone shouting, "State your business!"

"I'm just delivering the fabrics from Regna Ferox," said Frederick. The accent he had adopted would have been comical, if not for their current situation.

"Sir, do you have any idea what time it is?" the man asked irritably.

"Do you have any idea what _I_ had to go through to bring these here?" Frederick asked in return. "The hail, the snow, the rodents of unusual sizes, the Risen and bandits!"

"Sir, it's the middle of the night."

"Did I not already mention the Risen? Now, the seamstress was supposed to be expecting these fabrics a week ago, at least let me drop them off."

"Seamstress? What do these hick-folk need with a seamstress?"

"Believe me, sir, why would I be here in the middle of the night, as you've kindly pointed out, if I were lying? I have things I would much rather be doing at this hour."

The guard leaned to the side, craning his neck up to get a good look inside the wagon. What if there _had_ been fabrics on their way here? What was he supposed to do? "Hold your fire!" the guard shouted skywards to the archers. "Wait here, I need to ask about this."

Anali's heart nearly leapt into her throat. This was good, this was just what they wanted. The bandits did not want to be found out anymore than the Shepherds did, so they needed to stall just as much. As far as they knew, Ylisse did not know about the capture of the fort and they would have wanted to keep it that way.

They could hear voices go back and forth with each other as the guard disappeared into one of the buildings. The shadows could be seen through the windows of the tavern. They were muffled voices at first, then slowly built up to shouting, "What seamstress?! What order?!" These two lines repeated three more times.

The tavern door opened and a scrawny little man hurried out. He sprinted across the road, to the inn; after knocking on the door, someone let him in. Less than a minute later someone lit a candle on the ground floor. Everything had become silent, eerily silent.

The minutes ticked by agonizingly slow. True, the whole point was to stall for time as Chrom's group saved the mayor and the maidens, but Anali had no idea what was going on with the bandits. Had they found out about Chrom's group? Did they know what was in the wagon?

The door opened ten minutes later; the scrawny man darted back into the tavern. The muffled conversation started back up again. Hardly two seconds passed before a few _'You idiots!'_ were thrown out. The tavern's door slammed open, a gruff man stomped out with the guard close at his heels shouting, "Roddick! Roddick, wait!"

"Alright," the gruff man, Roddick, snapped at Frederick, "what game are you playin' at?!"

"Tis no game, good sir," Frederick replied, unaffected by Roddick's raised voice. "I am just a merchant from Regna Ferox, here to trade my goods for Moons and Suns."

"And what merchant arrives this late at night?" Roddick replied. He rounded the wagon so that he could look inside. "What would the seamstress need with fabric anyway?"

"Well, sir, the whole concept of a seamstress is-"

"Lemme rephrase that," Roddick said; he reached inside the wagon. "What does the seamstress need with fabric, when she's been dead for the last six weeks?"

He grabbed a fistful of cloak and yanked on it. As soon as it was off them, Miriel snapped her tome open then tossed her free hand forward. Almost immediately, Roddick and the guard were blown back by the blast aimed right for them. The guard started to scream in a wild panic; the sleeve of his tunic had caught fire. "We're under attack!" Roddick roared, and one by one the windows of each building lit up. He ran back to the tavern. "Everyone grab your blade and fight! Archer's open fire!"

Vaike and Kellam leaned back until the wagon fully tipped over, taking everyone inside with it. Baldulf whinnied in an wild panic. Quickly, Frederick undid his harness, and the stallion bolted straight into the village. "Somebody get that horse!"

Frederick took shelter behind the fallen wagon as the archers began firing arrows at them. "Okay, we've got two options now," Anali said in a hushed tone. "We can either charge into the fort, I'm sure they won't risk hitting their own men, or wait for them to run out of arrows."

"Well, fuck that idea," Vaike said brandishing his axe. "We'd be here for ages if we waited them out."

"Oh, I agree," said Anali. "Which is why we just charge in."

"That will only succeed in making us targets," Frederick pointed out.

"Only if we move in a b-line," Miriel said, snapping her Fire tome closed. "So long as we make ourselves difficult targets until we get ourselves into the fray."

"What she said," Anali said, gesturing to Miriel. "We just run in, and don't be an easy target."

"As good an idea as any," mumbled Vaike.

On the count of three, Vaike and Kellam were the first to sprint out from behind the wagon. The bandit's archers fired, one of the arrows nicked Kellam's armor, but it wasn't enough to break his stride. Miriel, Frederick, and Anali followed suit. "Hold fire!" someone shouted as they successfully made it inside. "Hold fire and get down here, you idiots!"

Inside the fort all hell had broken loose within a matter of minutes. Anali could see the villagers shut themselves into their homes. Men encouraged their wives and children to hide in the cellar; lights were being snuffed out in the windows. That was good; they understood enough of what was going on to keep themselves hidden. That would mean there would be less innocent blood spilt tonight.

Torches on the outsides of the buildings quickly lit up the town with such a force, it would have been easy to mistake that morning was on the horizon. Chrom, Donnel, Sully, and Stahl had successfully transferred the maidens to Mayor Grey's house. The last thing they wanted was one of the bandits to escape with any of the girls. In a stroke of luck, Grey and his wife had a secret cellar under their dining room that their leader, Roddick, knew nothing about, so they would all be safe in there.

Once the group split up to enter the fray, Donnel found himself a bronze lance someone dropped to use against the brigands. He couldn't do much else then just swing it and hope it hit something, but if Donnel did have one thing it was speed. He may have lacked strength and knowledge, but his ability to dodge was quite admirable. It was little wonder he had managed to escape.

The Shepherds had scattered throughout the village. Stahl stuck close to Donnel should the boy get in way over his head. Sully had reunited with her stallion and began cutting through the brutes like a hot knife through butter. Kellam remained unnoticed by the Shepherds, but also by the bandits themselves; they never knew what hit them. Vaike and Frederick made fighting against them look easy. Miriel was able to keep them at bay with her magic, and Anali alternated between her sword and tome.

The bandits here where in a different league than the bandits in Southtown, when Chrom first met Anali. Their men were stronger, more resilient; they actually knew what they were doing. The notion wasn't entirely surprising, they had seized the Farfort for a week, after all. But, they were not organized, that was their fatal flaw.

They didn't know about the messenger hawk someone managed to send out. Their guard didn't know off the top of his head that the seamstress had died. Nor did they know about the secret cellar in the Mayor's house, they could have been hiding villagers under their nose without knowing it. And now, here they where, fighting against the Shepherd's with no strategy outside of _'cut-them-down.'_

The ruffian's attacked them with no rhyme or reason, it was simply a matter of getting the Shepherds killed the fastest way possible. It should have been easy for them, the Shepherds only had eight men with them, nine if they counted Donnel. The bandits easily outnumbered them, but they were not going down, not as easily as Roddick would have wanted.

Miriel reared back; one of her spells missed its intended target, the brute was quick to steal the opportunity. He threw his arm horizontally, no doubt trying to cut through Miriel's midsection. The red-haired mage, while certainly not the fastest, staggered back, missing the oncoming blow just enough to cut through her robes and knick her on the arm. Blood suddenly splurted from the bandit's backside, he fell over with an axe protruding from the right side of his back, just below the shoulder.

A spiky haired blonde stood behind the man, still frozen in position once he released his axe. He smirked, prideful of his own accomplishment, as he walked up, and retrieved his axe. Readjusting her glasses, Miriel sighed. Vaike's action did not go unappreciated, but he could have been a bit more timely.

Sully plowed through the street's on horseback with her lance in hand. Baldulf had found her after Frederick released him from the wagon, a possible blessing that Sully was not about to question. She could cover more ground this way, and cut down more of these dastards. She got caught up in the action in front of her, she failed to notice the shadow following close behind, watching her back from any projectile weaponry.

Frederick and Anali fought back-to-back, with Anali alternating between her sword and magic. She knew full well what Frederick's abilities were like, and rightfully guessed that he held back during their training sessions. But she had some idea of what to keep an eye out for on his end, so that she didn't end up hit by accident.

A sword-welding ruffian ran up to Anali. She met him half-way; Anali slashed into him, just between his shoulder and neck. The man screamed loud enough to surely hurt his throat. Enraged, the bandit thrusted his sword forward, aiming for Anali's face. She was able to misdirect the blow by kicking the man in the abdomen; he fell over, unsurprisingly, blood was beginning to pool around his head from his injury. Quickly, before the man had the chance to get up, Anali drove her blade into him. Silence.

Chrom was thirteen when he first received Falchion, the only one of the three royals both able and willing to wield it. He knew full well that Emmeryn would not keep such a blade at her side, for it would be like turning her back on her principals. And Lissa, despite what she said about being willing to defend Ylisse, was overwhelmed by the thought of wielding a melee weapon. No, Lissa was okay with healing and magic. So, Chrom was the only one left to carry one of Ylisse national treasures, the very sword used by the first Exalt, and the Hero-King himself.

When Chrom was first given the blade at thirteen, he understood full well what his duty to Ylisse was. To rebuild its shattered army, to act in Emmeryn's steed, to defend Ylisse from those who would take advantage of it's greatest attribute. From Plegian's stirring up the peace, even ruffians who thought they could keep themselves safe by taking the Farfort. He would be the one to show them that Ylisse was not the haildom to take advantage of.

So Chrom cut through the bandits who challenged him. There number's were beginning to diminish, and fast. Let it be one of the Shepherds cutting them down, or the bandits who were cutting their losses and fled the scene. If nothing else, the cowards were weeded out.

A woman cried out as she was being dragged out of her home by Roddick. She was a plump, middle aged woman; the low ponytail she styled her hair in was beginning to unravel. Didn't Donnel say that they were collecting the _maidens_? This woman could have very well been married with her own gaggle of children. But, as Chrom decided, the details did not matter; she was in trouble, he had to help her.

Luce pulled at Roddick's hand, the very one that was held tight around the back of her shirt and pulling a few strands of hair. She knew full well that Roddick was downright furious; his plans, his means of protection had all gone to hell in less than an hour. Luce knew he would come for her, however she expected it sooner given it was _her_ son that escaped. "Damn it!" Roddick hissed, throwing Luce to the ground. "All of this because that kid of yours got away!"

"This would have happened even if he hadn't!" Luce shot back. "Did you think we didn't learn anything since you last came here?!"

A snide grin played upon Roddick's lips, recalling the event several years back. One of the villagers retaliated and struck Roddick with a pitchfork, successfully breaking a couple of his ribs. So, Roddick and his gang returned the favor by killing him; Luce was that man's widow. "If I had enough sense back then, I woulda killed that brat of yours before he got out!" Roddick barked back. "I outta wring his neck next time I see him."

"He's just a boy!" Luce cried out; a new form of panic began to swell up in her chest. Her boy had a good head on his shoulders, didn't he? Surely he would stay away, surely he would run.

A smirk played upon Roddick's face. Why not take care of both the woman and her son now, and save him the trouble of a vengeful, childless widow? That would get the entire family under his belt, after all they were proving to be more trouble than they were worth. First the husband and his pitchfork, then then son making a run for it. Why should Roddick wait for the wife to retaliate and humiliate him and his men, too? No man, woman, or child would show up Roddick.

Roddick removed his axe from its sling on his belt. Luce, with widened eyes, pushed herself back. She knew what he was planning, it was written all over his face. He raised the weapon above his shoulder. Where should he strike her? Get her in the chest and get it over with? Or why not chop of each limb and let her die slowly and painfully as he hunted down her son?

He realized too late that Chrom was two feet away from him; the prince punched Roddick in the jaw. He stumbled back, and braced himself against Luce's home. He was bleeding out of the mouth after he bit his tongue.

As Roddick tried to come to his senses, Chrom knelt down and helped Luce onto her feet. "You all right?" he asked her. Unable to find her voice, Luce nodded. "Find someplace safe, we'll have the fort back before you-"

"Milord!" Luce exclaimed, suddenly finding her voice again.

In one, swift, movement, Chrom brandished his blade, and blocked the oncoming axe. Roddick put as much strength into his attack as he could muster. Blood from his cut tongue pooled in his mouth, a minor inconvenience compared to the blood of a royal on his axe. "Time to show you castle whelp what us wild-born men can do!" shouted Roddick, his tone laced with mirth.

"We will see about that!" Chrom countered.

Seeing that his first attack was not about to get him anywhere, Roddick threw his arm back for another attack. Something Chrom blocked with ease. It went on like that several more times. Chrom playing defensive, while Roddick went onto the full attack, and then they got into a rhythm. It was only then, did Chrom attack him for a change.

Stepping forward, Chrom drove the tip of Falchion right through Roddick's axe-hand; Chrom could feel the blade scrape against bone. Screaming, Roddick dropped to one knee, keeping his injured arm raised. The brute looked up at Chrom with bloodshot eyes. "You…" Roddick cursed through clenched teeth. "_You…!_"

Unexpectedly, Roddick pulled his own arm off of Falchion. An act that was no doubt, immensely painful, all Chrom could do was stare in awe. He snapped out of his stupor when Roddick swung his axe at Chrom successfully cutting his arm and chest. Chrom stumbled back, his right arm was bleeding just above the crease of his elbow. Roddick began to swing his blade around wildly, and all Chrom could do was protect himself with his own sword. With Roddick attacking so randomly, it was difficult to find a spot for an open attack, and easy for Chrom to end up seriously injured.

There was a sudden splurge from Roddick's backside; he looked down to find his front bleeding profusely. Donnel stood behind him, having driven his lance into his back and right through to the other side. The boy's eyes were widened as his actions slowly sunk in. Donnel wasn't quite sure what he was doing at the time, he saw Chrom struggling, so he just acted.

But he didn't have a word for what he was feeling at that moment. This was the man who murdered his pa, took over his village, planed to prostitute ladies he called his friends, and was going to kill his ma. Donnel should have been happy, relieved that such a man wouldn't harm anyone anymore. But he did not have the word for this emotion.

Slowly, Roddick turned his head around to look at Donnel. He looked downright terrified, and enraged. "D-Damn you…" murmured Roddick. His eyes rolled back as he slumped over, dead as a doornail.

There were voices from the other Shepherds meshed into one. One by one, the lights from the village homes began to flicker on, as men and women poked their heads out the door. "Is… is it over?" asked Donnel.

With a small smile, Chrom nodded and clapped Donnel on the shoulder. "A worthy first victory, Donny," he said. "You fought well."

"Donny…?" Luce asked. She slowly stepped out of the barn she had taken shelter in.

The village boy smiled boldly. "Ma!" Donnel cried, running into Luce's arms.

"Oh, Donny!" Luce sobbed, holding her son close, as though she were afraid to let him go again. Afraid of what might happen if she did. "Thank goodness you're safe!" Her hands went from Donnel's backside, to his shoulders. Luce held him at arms length. "What were you thinkin'?! You had me worried to death, boy!"

Donnel gave his mother a lopsided grin. The last Luce had seen of her son, he was trying to convince her that he could make a run for it. That he could find help before they shipped off the girls. Donnel's escape had been less than stellar, with Roddick declaring that he would kill him if he ever saw Donnel again. "Sorry Ma…" Donnel said; rubbing the back of his neck, his eyes were cast downward.

Luce pulled her son close to her again. Around them, the villagers emerged from their homes, the maidens the bandits had captured returned to their families. Mayor Grey spoke with Frederick, probably to ask where Chrom was, and about the village restoration. The village itself was still in decent condition, but their resources had dwindled with the bandit's eating them out of house and home. There was some hope for them, however, it was still spring, they could grow their crops long before winter arrived. "No flying axes this time?"

The sudden voice startled Chrom enough to make him jump. Whipping around on his heel, his hand wrapped tight around the hilt of Falchion ready to attack. But it was only Anali, looking a little worse for wear. Her left pigtail was beginning to come undone, with three locks of hair hanging free. There was a thin cut on her right cheek, starting just under her eye, that traveled all the way back to her earlobe. There was a tear in the upper left sleeve of her coat, Chrom could just make out a bit of blood on the edge of the rip. She was tired, though, that much was written on her face with her weary smile and half-laden eyes.

Her shoulders begin to shake. "Sorry, did I startle you?" she asked in between giggles. "I'm sorry, I couldn't resist."

Shaking his head, Chrom let out a low chuckle. The odds had not exactly been in their favor, it was nine men against a band of ruffians. They were outnumbered by more than a handful, but they all made it out alive. Chrom wouldn't have thought to sneak in through the well, nor would he have thought to use an old wagon to help with a distraction. Perhaps it was that that gave them the upper hand so quickly. They were able to free the hostages, and get the girls to safety should anything go wrong, then they were free to deal with the bastards who seized the fort in the first place. They had successfully rescued the village girls from who knows what, and liberated the village. They were alive, they were worse for wear, but they were alive. If this was what Anali could come up with in just a matter of minutes with little to work with, Chrom had to wonder what else she was capable of.

He had to smile to himself. This 'helpless victim' was certainly something else.

"Milord," Mayor Grey said, walking up to the pair. He lowered his head, and for a moment, Anali could have sworn the older man had been crying at one point. "We cannot thank you and your Shepherds enough. Sir Frederick explained how you split into two groups, one as a distraction, your's sneaking in. Quite clever, milord."

"Actually, I'm afraid I cannot take credit for that," said Chrom. Before Anali could stop him, Chrom had placed both hands on Anali's shoulders and guided her in front of him. Her face had been dusted with a pink blush. "That belongs to our new tactician, Anali."

And just like that the blush on Anali's face dissipated, and she looked back up at Chrom with an arched brow. Had she heard correctly, _their new tactician?_ He was serious about that?!

Well, yes, Anali did seem to have an eye for sizing up enemies, and yes, creating the plan was kind of fun and exhilarating, and yes, she had been reading up on battle strategies. But shouldn't such a position go to someone who had more expertise and experience. Anali had only been a Shepherd for three weeks, this was her first march, this was her first real battle strategy. Why was she the tactician?

"Well, then, Lady Anali," Mayor Grey said, taking her hand into both of his. And once more, Anali's face began to heat up when he called her 'Lady.' "You have the Farfort's gratitude."

"Th-thank you, sir," Anali stuttered, she carefully pulled her hand out of Grey's grip. "B-but any plan is useless without willing men and women. We wouldn't have gotten anywhere without Chrom leading us."

Mayor Grey tossed his head back and laughed. "I suppose we all stand corrected," he said, "it would seem the Farfort has you _both_ to thank."

Chrom could not help but smile a little; perhaps the mayor was right. The liberation of the Farfort was a joint effort by the Ylissean prince, and a wandering Plegian woman.

Frederick had convinced Chrom that it was probably a good idea to journey back to Ylisstol early in the morning, when there was daylight out. However, that would leave them with only a few hours of sleep. The exhausted Shepherds moaned and groaned, and Chrom was in complete understanding, but both Chrom and Frederick were unwavering in their resolve. "Lady Emmeryn and Lissa would want to know of our success as soon as possible, milord," Fredric had told him. And Chrom couldn't find it in him to disagree, no matter how exhausted he was.

The inn had graciously provided them with rooms for the rest of the night, and a light meal before bed. In the mess hall they laid out a warm pot of chicken broth, and warm bread. The chatter amongst the Shepherds was low and mumbled, they were all exhausted from this long, long night. Well, all but Vaike, who boastfully recollected his kills of the night, whether anyone wanted to listen or not.

"Kellam," Sully said, sitting herself in front of the man in question.

"Y-yes?" Kellam stuttered. Not that he wasn't pleased to be speaking to someone, Kellam was sure everyone forgot he was there at all.

"I've got a bone to pick with you, pip-squeak," said Sully. Her expression dull, with irritation behind her fiery eyes. "Frederick tells me you were secretly watching my back."

"Um, I wasn't really trying to keep it a secret, Sully," explained Kellam. "I was just fighting alongside-"

"Well knock it off!" the red haired woman said, pounding her fist on the table with enough force to cause Kellam's bowl and utensils to shake. "I don't need some tiny man in an oversized suit of armor watching me like I'm some child. Got it?!"

"B-b-but…" Kellam took a deep breath in. He knew what to do, just calmly explain himself to her, and this whole thing would blow over. "I wasn't giving you special treatment, Sully, honest. I just want to protect my comrades."

Slamming both hands onto the table, Sully stood up and leaned in forward. "I'll say this once, pip-squeak," Sully said darkly. "Don't ever pull that crap again! Are we clear? 'Cause if we are, I'm done. I'm exhausted and I'd rather not spend the rest of the night yelling at you, tin man."

Making her piece, Sully pushed her seat back, and stomped off to her room to turn in for the night. Kellam sat stone still, a little dumbfounded by the events that had just played out. That had not gone the way he had hoped it would.

The minutes quickly ticked by and the chatter amongst them died down. Odds were they would all be heading to bed in a few minutes. When the door creaked open, several of the Shepherds looked up at the door. Donnel poked his head inside before he walked in. "Donny," Chrom said, genuinely surprised. "It's late, I would have thought you were at home with your ma."

"I was," Donnel said, rubbing the back of his neck. "B-but I has a request, sir. If you'd allow it, Your Graceliness… please take me with you, milord. Lemme be a Shepherd like you! I wanna hone my… whatever it is you said earlier. I wanna protect the village if this ever happens again. Please, sir!"

There was a conviction in Donnel's dark eyes. As frightened as he might have been after he killed a man, his drive to keep his mother, and his village safe completely overrode it. His pa had died keeping his family safe, if the gods willed it, Donnel would do the same. His ma may argue at first, but she would understand with time. "We'd he happy to have you, Donny," said Chrom with a tired grin.

The boy's eyes lit up. "Yeh mean it?" he asked, a wide grin breaking out on his face. "Ah, thank you, milord! You won't regret this, I promise you!"

Before Chrom could say anything else, Donnel raced out of the inn, bellowing _'yee-haw!' _all the while. Anali, who had previously struggled not to doze off, tried to hide her smile. Three weeks ago, she had been concerned about acceptance due to her possible - but highly plausible - origin. That Anali was most likely from some dirt poor family, that she did not fit in with Ylisse's military. Had she witnessed this scene play out, the prince of Ylisse happily accepting a village boy into the Shepherds, her decision would have been easier to make. But, in the end, Anali wouldn't have traded any of it for the world.

The next morning was filled with groaning and yawns, from all but Frederick. How on earth did he do it? One of the villagers fetched the horses, and had them well taken care of. Anali road with Stahl on the way back to the docks for the trip back to the mainland. She was not looking forward to that.

Donnel had a comedically large knapsack on him that morning. His mother, naturally, had seen him off. "You're sure you want to do this, Donny?" Luce asked. She looked older than she had the previous night. Then again, last night, she wasn't seeing her son off as he went out into the world. "No one will blame you if-"

"I wanna protect the village, ma," Donnel said, cutting Luce off. "I wanna keep something like this from happenin' again. I wanna be able to keep you safe. You know what I mean?"

Luce looked Donnel in the eye. Somehow, when her back was turned he started to grow up. When had that happened? "You just…" said Luce. Sighing, she fixed Donnel's collar. "You just come home safe, love."

Misty eyed, Donnel threw his arms over Luce and held him close to her. He dwarfed his mother by a head and a-half. The sight hit Anali with a wave of envy. She had moments like this with her own mother, didn't she? She had to. Perhaps Anali spent her summer days out fishing with her father, and helped her mother prepare dinner in the evenings. Maybe her mother read to her as a child, and she helped her father repair damages to their home. What if she had siblings?

Anali wanted to believe her family was still alive, but the state she was found in didn't leave much hope.

* * *

**Authors Note: **This chapter kinda proves the point I made when I first started writing this. That the hardest part is figuring out whether Anali's strategies are really good ideas, or if they're only good ideas if everyone else is stupid. I'm going to be mixing up the order of the parologues until we get to the future children paralogues, though I can't say anything about the SpotPass ones at the moment. Spoilers and all. The reason is that, in the game, they pop up at pretty odd times, like the Sickle to Sword one, in-game they're on an important mission to form an alliance, but then trouble starts brewing _on the opposite side of the map._

With that said, I decided to do Sickle to Sword first as it seemed like a good first mission for Anali. It wanted her to have at least one outing with them before heading up to Regna Ferox, mostly to solidify her position as tactician. What she had come up with in Chapters One and Two really did not seem like all that much, at least not enough to name a person tactician.

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	5. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five  
Warrior Realm**

Donnel adjusted to Shepherd life beautifully, just not so much to the life of Ylisstol. When they returned to the palace, the boy apologized to everyone and everything he bumped into while gawking. Had Anali been like that when she was brought in, she had to wonder. But, you couldn't really take farm life out of him. Within three days at the garrison Donnel had a small patch of land dug up for a garden, and several potted plants set up by the windows.

Training was something he had adjusted to much easier than Anali could have hoped to. Getting up early wasn't anything new to Donnel, and he was already quite fast compared to his comrades. He was going to thrive with the Shepherds, that much was certain.

With the victory of the Farfort under her belt, and the realization that, yes, she was indeed the Shepherds tactician, Anali was often found with her nose buried deep in one of her books. More often than naught she had several rolls of parchment with her and a bottle of ink. She wrote down as much as she could; the notes she wanted to remember and the ideas that came to her. Anali easily lost herself in moments like these.

"Anali…" Frederick said, spotting the cluttered table in the mess hall one day during lunch. That day, he looked like he had dealt with more than enough tomfoolery and did not want to have to put up with anything Anali had to dish out. "Is all of this really necessary?"

"It's my job, as the tactician, to keep everyone alive, isn't it?" said Anali. "I don't want to create a strategy that could so easily fall apart like at the Farfort."

Sighing, Frederick pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just… don't let this interfere with training," he said. "All this strategy will be useless the moment you collapse on the ground because you stayed up late to take notes."

Five days after the Farfort, Anali sat in the library with a game board and tiny blue and red figurines littered out on it's surface. Her head was rested in one hand with her fingers raked through her bangs, and her elbow on the table. So if she spread out, the Pegasus Knights could sweep in with a nice little…

"Goodness," an accented voice said from over her shoulder, "I can practically see smoke rising from your head. Whatever could have you working at such a fevered tilt?"

Jumping slightly in her seat, Anali looked up to see Virion peering at the board. "Oh," Anali murmured after the initial shock wore off. She looked back down at the board, her hand began to fiddle with the little figurines. "I'm just using this to work out battle strategies and scenarios. Figured it was easier to use this first than to run everyone ragged for training exercises."

"How very clever," Virion said thoughtfully. He picked up one of the red pieces and held it close to his eye level to study it. "You even carved little enemy forces to fight them. I'm impressed. And that doesn't happen very often," he shrugged. "With other people, at least."

"Don't go patting me on the back yet," Anali heaved. "It's not as effective as I had hoped as long as I control both parties. I can't really plan for the unexpected when I already know who's going to do what."

Virion placed the figure back in its original spot. He strode over to the other side of the table, pulled out the chair, and seated himself down. "Then permit me to be your opponent," said Virion. "I shall strike with the nobility of the lion and defend with the grace of a swan!"

"Because swans are known for defending and battle?" Anali asked with a weary expression. Virion never really struck her as the tactical type of person. Then again, he never struck her as a fighter either, but on the other hand, how well did she know him? "_Obviously._ Em… okay, I accept. We'll take turns moving units until one of us claims the other's commander, okay?"

"Agreed and agreed again," Virion said, with a crack of his knuckles. "Please begin, by all means."

Why did Anali suddenly feel dread surfacing in the pit of her stomach?

In a surprising turn of events, their game was actually much more heated than Anali would have thought. She clearly did not give Virion nearly enough credit as he disserved. Not only was he able to counter with ease, he quickly took out most of Anali's units. However there was a large difference between the pair's strategies; Virion was willing to sacrifice as many units as possible to keep his commander safe.

"Wait hold!" she exclaimed. Her left hand pushed back her bangs in exasperation. "I-I need to… Damn…"

"If only you could if this weren't just a game," Virion said with a chuckle. He leaned back in his seat, his arms folded across his chest. "But alas, this is war. And this is checkmate, my good lady."

"Blast!" Anali cursed as her forehead collided with the table. "Yes, yes, you win."

"I told you I was both a lion and a swan, did I not?" boasted Virion.

Anali lifted her head off the table. "More like a chicken and a donkey!" she snapped. "I may not be some noble lord, but your strategy wasn't exactly what I'd call honorable!"

"Heavens!" Virion gasped. "Aren't we plainspoken."

"Regardless, I appreciate the practice, and your assistance," Anali said, collecting the game pieces, and placed them into a small pouch. "But I need to get back on the training field."

"B-but, I've barely had time to gloat!"

"_Ah_, but in an actual war, the loser is never present to witness the gloating," Anali replied with a smug grin.

After she collapsed the game board, Anali collected her belongings into her arms, then left the room with Virion pleading for another game. However she couldn't tell if it was because Virion found genuine enjoyment in their game, or because he wanted another opportunity to gloat. He even offered to help Anali with her archery in exchange for another game. Given that the last time Anali tried her hand at archery, Kellam nearly took an arrow to the knee, she almost took him up on that offer.

However, the last thing Anali wanted to do was lose the muscle she was beginning to build up because she spent so much time in her books and notes. She needed to keep training with the others, build up her skill, and keep her weight under control. As Frederick said she couldn't afford to let herself go with everyone else working so hard.

That evening Anali sat in a corner in the stable with a book Sumia lent her, with the young woman in question brushing one of the horses. According to Sumia the book was a modern retelling of a popular Valmese fairy story, but still managed to weave in it's own plotline. But at the moment, Anali found it a bit difficult to concentrate, as Sumia was listing off various horse-care tidbits.

"So do you have one of your own?" Anali asked. "A horse or pegasus, I mean."

Her lips pursed to the side in thought. "Emmm… Not yet," said Sumia, "haven't really quite found one that I'm in sync with."

"Oh…" Anali said thoughtfully.

There was a knock at the stable door, Chrom stood in the doorway. Sumia's eyes lit up at the sight. "Captain!" she said. Sumia only took one step forward before she stumbled.

Anali quickly got onto her knees and reached out for Sumia. Her arms hooked around Sumia's midsection, keeping her somewhat upright, but not on the floor. "Sumia!" Chrom gasped at the sight. He cleared his throat as his eyes wandered to the far corner. "Those boots of yours again?"

"No!" Sumia said, suddenly upright on her feet. "I mean yes! I mean…"

"Anything we can do for you Chrom?" Anali asked quickly.

"_Yes_. There is," Chrom said, his eyes forward again, "in the morning the Shepherds will be marching to Regna Ferox."

"Regna Ferox?" questioned Anali. She heard of it a couple of times, but never got a good idea of what it was or where it is.

"A unified kingdom to the north of Ylisse," Sumia explained. "It's inhabited by barbarians… or so it's said."

"Warriors are what they are," Chrom corrected. "And with Plegia being more persistent and the growing number of Risen, Ylisse will be in need of their strength. Typically, the Exalt would request such aid in person, however given said rise in numbers… well, the people might worry should my sister suddenly leave the capital. So the task ahs been passed to us."

His eyes wandered to Anali. "This mission is voluntary, and I was hoping our tactician would-"

"Of course," Anali said beaming. "I'll have a few strategies ready should the worse happen."

Sumia rubbed the back of her head, her brow arched slightly. "Yes, Sumia?" asked Chrom.

"I-I'd volunteer," Sumia admitted, she started fiddling with her fingers. "It's just that… I'm not sure I'm quite ready for a proper mission just yet. I'd probably just get in the way."

"Well, I'm sure we can work it out so you could stay behind the main group if a battle is met," said Chrom. He turned to Anali. "We can arrange that, right?"

"Yeah, it shouldn't be a problem," Anali nodded.

"It's your choice, of course," Chrom said to Sumia. "But some lessons can only be learned on the battlefield."

The ash-haired woman avoided eye-contact with her prince and captain. "W-Well…" her voice trailed off, her porcelain cheeks carried the slightest blush. "If you think it wise, Captain."

"Just stay by me and you'll be fine."

"Oh, yes!" she blurted out, beaming. Sumia blushed upon realizing how rash she was, and tried to compose herself again. "I mean - Yes, sir, I'll do that."

"Happy to hear that," smiled Chrom. "We'll be meeting at sunrise tomorrow for roll call, it will take us a couple of days to get to the Longfort. Oh, and, Anali," Chrom looked up at her. "Regna Ferox is rather infamous for it's year-round cold weather. So be sure to pack warmly."

Anali gave him a slight salute before the blue haired prince disappeared into the hallway. She looked back at Sumia with a wide grin, and shaking shoulders. "What?" Sumia asked puzzled. Snickering, Anali placed the book in front of her face, as she bent over double. With her cheeks puffed up, Sumia threw the horse brush at Anali. "Glad one of us could find the humor in all that," Sumia huffed.

The next morning Anali stood outside of the garrison, a little surprised by the turnout. For starters, Lissa was amongst their numbers that day. Not to say she couldn't handle herself, but from what Anali understood Lissa would have died, or at least have been seriously injured, in the first Risen attack had it not been for Marth. It certainly explained why Lissa was so shaken up when Frederick and Anali finally found them. But had that been Anali, she would have been a little apprehensive to go out on a march like this.

And then there was Liam; reclusive, misanthropic Liam. To be honest, Anali didn't think he could fight, as she had never seen him on the training field. But there it was, a sword, in it's sheath, around his waist with his lyre. Virion was also amongst their numbers, now dressed in the same attire he wore that night a month ago. Even Donnel was geared up and ready to go. The rest were to be expected, Sully, Stahl, Vaike, Miriel, Frederick, and Chrom. Anali felt like there was someone else beside her and Sumia, but she couldn't think of who.

That night, according to Miriel, they were a little less than half-way there. It would take another day and a-half to get to the Longfort. They set up camp for the night, and when that was done, Anali sat herself in the mess tent flipping through a book of Feroxi history, hoping to find something that could come in handy. Around her a few of the others had engaged in a small arm-wrestling tournament. Things only got exciting when it got to Sully and Vaike, it really could have turned out either way, but Sully won.

The next day was filled with much of the same, to avoid boredom, Liam played a few pleasant songs on his lyre. Anali would have joined in with her ocarina, but she was afraid of overbalancing and falling off the horse. In the end, it was for the best as Frederick quickly yelled at him to stop while they were in the open like this. The last thing they needed was unwanted attention drawn in by the noise.

At camp that night Anali found herself conversing with Sully and Sumia about Sumia's 'flower fortunes,' a concept that was utterly strange to Anali. Sumia is faced with two options, then plucks off flower petals. "It's pretty much a _'he-loves-me-he-loves-me-not' _thing, though," said Anali.

"What? It's kind of fun," Sumia defended.

The three walked across the campsite, as most of the Shepherds headed off to bed. "B-b-but-" Anali stuttered.

"Ah, just let it go, Anali," Sully said with a wave of the hand. "She's been doin' this sort of thing for years."

Outside one of the women's tents the trio heard an odd gawking sound, like a dying goose. They hurried into the tent, expecting to find a Risen ripping apart a poor animal. But it was just Lissa. Lissa was bent over double, arms wrapped around her waist, laughing so hard she was crying. "Gods damn it, Lissa!" snapped Sully. "I thought we were under attack or something!"

"Sorry… Sorry…" Lissa whizzed, as she stood herself up.

"What's got your feather's in a bunch?" asked Anali.

Breaking into another fit of laughter, Lissa pointed at the far end of the tent. Someone had pinned a portrait of Chrom… naked. In one hand he carried the Falchion, and a set of scales in the other. At the foot of the image were the words _'CHROM WANTS YOU.' _"What the hell am I looking that?" Sully asked under her breath.

Lissa fell to her knees again, snorting all the while. Anali forced her eyes away from the picture, her thumb and forefinger pressed against her temples to shielded her eyes. Sumia, on the other hand was stone still with a red face. "Oh, gods!" Lissa snorted. "This has Frederick's handiwork written all over it!"

Behind them, the tent flaps fluttered as they were forced open. Chrom stood in the entrance, his face flustered with embarrassment; he carried a bundle of the portraits in his arm. His blush deepened at the sight of the girls as Lissa's laughter doubled. Without looking at the portrait, Anali tore it off the tent, then held it out to him. "You have something you wanna talk about?" asked Sully.

"Sully!" Sumia squeaked.

Just when Anali was sure Chrom's face couldn't turn any redder, she was proven wrong. He snatched the portrait from Anali, and stomped out of the tent, muttering something about talking to Frederick. "What the heck was that about?" asked Anali.

"Your guess is as good as mine," said Sully.

In the morning there were a few murmurs about the posters Chrom retrieved from everyone's tent. There was a rumor floating around that it was Frederick's attempt to boost morale. There was another rumor going around about a ghost that haunts the mess tent. The mess tent that was hardly in the same place twice. Anali found that one ridiculous.

It was estimated that they would reach the Longfort by late afternoon or early evening. Anali rode on horseback with Lissa. "So you're adjusting okay, yes?" the blonde princess asked. "Not too nervous about this mission?"

"Yeah," Anali nodded, even though Lissa sat in front of her. "I'm just the tactician. It's not like I'll be part of some big political debate."

"I dunno," said Lissa, "if things with Plegia and the Risen get really bad, you will need to be part of war meetings."

"Well, yea-"

"So there is a good chance Chrom would want you to meet with the Khan. If something goes wrong, you'll need to know what's going on."

Anali's brow creased, Lissa made a few good points, points that she hadn't quite thought of. But what's the worse that could happen in Regna Ferox? They had reason to fear the Risen too, they could benefit from this alliance just as much as Ylisse would.

She jumped slightly when Lissa pulled on the reigns of the horse and they came to a stop. "Is that what I think it is?" Lissa asked, dismounting.

Anali followed Lissa's example without much grace. A malevolent creature stood in the opened field. It's wings drooped on either side of it, and its head bend low. There was a blotch of red on the creature's right wing that stood out against it's snowy coat. "It's a pegasus, all right," Chrom said, walking up to the two. "I think it's hurt."

Slowly, he took a step towards the pegasus. The creature reared back on it's hind legs, letting out a shrill whinny as it kicked it's forelegs. Anali took a step back, her arms held up in front of her. Lo and behold, the very reason why she was nervous around equines. True, Anali felt like she had gotten better, having ridden them a few times, but if she was behind the reigns. Yikes.

"Down girl!" Chrom called, backing up with his hand held out in front of him. "Easy there! Easy!"

"Milord," Frederick spoke up. He looked about ready to grab Chrom should the pegasus think of charging. "Perhaps there is another way to deal with this."

"Have you any suggestions, then?"

"Captain?" Sumia spoke up. She swung her leg over, dismounting Baldulf, then fetched something from her saddle bag. "If I may-"

She fell forward, just as she was about to approach Chrom. Effortlessly, Frederick caught her before she could make out the blades of grass. "Careful, milady," Frederick said, helping Sumia stand upright. "It wouldn't be much help if you end up trampled."

"Eh, y-yes, of course," Sumia said with a blush. "Thank you, Frederick." She turned back to Chrom. "As I was saying, Captain, I can take care of this."

Slowly walking up to the pegasus, Sumia held her hand out to the mare, revealing a couple of sugar cubes in her palm. Sumia whispered a few soothing words to the pegasus as she took a few more careful steps towards her. When close enough, the pegasus sniffed at Sumia's hand before she took the sugar cubes into her mouth. With a slight smile, Sumia gently petted the mare on the muzzle. "There we go," she said sweetly. "That's a good girl. Shhh, I won't hurt you."

The Pegasus' wings relaxed, as it's breathing steadied. She allowed Sumia closer, to nuzzle her as the woman whispered her fear away. "Whoa," Anali breathed out. "How'd she calm it so quickly?"

"I've never seen anything like it," Chrom said in awe.

"Oh, it's… it's nothing," Sumia said with a blush on her face. "You just need to know how to talk to them. You all go on ahead. I'll dress her wounds and catch up as soon as we're able."

"We can make time to wait for you."

"Thank you, Captain, but I can manage," Sumia insisted. "Every moment is precious when all of Ylisse is in danger."

Chrom's brow creased, it didn't sit right with him to leave Sumia on her own. With what little they did know about the Risen, they were fully capable of attacking in the broad daylight. Sumia was fast, but how was she in battle? How capable was the very woman who was infamous for tripping over nothing? "Why don't we just let her catch up with us later?" Anali asked him in a hushed tone.

"Are you sure?" Chrom asked in reply. "What if-"

"Have you _seen_ Sumia ride?" Anali asked with a raised brow. "Once she gets it's injury dressed she'll catch up in now time."

The prince glanced back up at Sumia. The pegasus seemed to have taken an instant liking to her, nibbling on Sumia's hair, which prompted a small fit of giggles. True, Sumia was one of the best riders Chrom had come across. "Right, then," he said with a nod. "Be safe, Sumia."

"As you command, sir!" Sumia beamed as she gave Chrom salute.

When they found the injured pegasus, the air had steadily gotten cooler as the campaign traveled farther up north. In fact, when they left Sumia with the pegasus, Frederick called for everyone to get out their cloaks. Before too long they were in a snow-covered land. The trees were dusted with snow, the wind was frigid, and it was not too long before Anali felt like tiny knives were stabbing into her nose, cheeks, and ears repeatedly. Her nose was beginning to run, clumped up snowflakes got into her eyes. In front of her, Anali could feel Lissa shivering in spite of her fine, thick cloak, but Anali was shivering as well. She decided that snow was beautiful, but she did not like the cold.

Up ahead of them, Chrom and Frederick pulled to a stop. In front of them was a long, brick fortress, with it's iron gates closed. There were two, closed off, flights of stairs on either the left and the right, that lead up to the towering stronghold. Impressed, Anali's brow perked up, as she heard a low whistle in her mind. "So this is the fortress?" she asked to no one in particular.

"Yes, the Longfort," Chrom said; he looked over his right shoulder at her. "It stretches across the border of Ylisse and Regna Ferox."

"The Khans that rule Ferox have grown quite wary of foreigners," Frederick explained, his voice carrying over to the rest of the campaign. "Don't mistake a lack of hospitality for open hostility. This simply calls for a bit of diplomacy."

"Negotiation's never been my strongest suit," Chrom murmured to himself. His horse took a few steps forward, then turned to the left allowing him to look at the army. He spoke up, "Remember, everyone: your actions here reflect back upon Ylisse. So, I don't want to hear of anyone acting out, or provoking the Khan or his soldiers."

Anali bit the inside of her cheek, Maribelle's words from more than three weeks ago suddenly hit her like a sack of bricks. She was presentable, yes? Of course she was. And Anali wouldn't dream of either acting out or provoking. Odds were, when her duties were done for the day, she would just curl up somewhere warm and work on some new strategies.

Chrom dismounted his horse, then approached the front gate. "Halt!" a woman from the upper level shouted. One could see short blonde hair amongst her heavy grey and green armor. "State your business!"

"In the name of House Ylisse, I seek audience with the Khans!" Chrom said, stepping forward with a firm, clear tone.

"Not another step, my bold lad!" the woman shouted, pointing a finger at him. "I've my lancers at the ready!"

Immediately, Frederick urged Hermia forward. "Hold, milady!" called Frederick. "We are not your enemy! Exalt Emmeryn herself sent us to discuss matters of mutual interest."

"My only interest is keeping you out of Regna Ferox, brigand!" snapped the woman.

"B-brigand?!" stuttered Frederick. He was actually about ready to throw diplomacy out the window. His prince and lord _a bandit?! _Perish the thought. "Now see here-"

"You think you're the first 'Ylisseans' to try to cross our border?" the woman asked, slamming a hand against the stone parapet. She was all but yelling now. "I have the authority to fell such imposters where they stand!"

"How dare you!" Frederick snapped, his own temper was beginning to wane, a rarity amongst missions like this. "You are in the presence of Prince Chrom, the Exalt's own blood!"

"Ha! And _I'm_ the queen of Valm!" the woman replied mockingly. She pretended to flounce her hair for further emphasis. "You do realize impersonating royalty is a capital offense? Perhaps we should settle this the Feroxi way. You claim to be the prince of Ylisse? Then prove it on the battlefield!"

Chrom grit his teeth; this was just the sort of thing Emmeryn wanted to avoid. "Please, good lady!" Chrom pleaded in a last-ditch effort. "If you'd just listen-"

"I've heard quite enough!" the woman cut him off. She turned to her men on either side of her, then brought her arm downward like a falling axe. "Attack!"

And for a few agonizing seconds, everything had gone strait to hell.

A line of Feroxi soldiers stood along the parapet, each one held a lance in their right hands. In perfect unison, they lifted their lances over their shoulders, and hurled them straight at Chrom. Anali's breath was caught in her throat while panic rose in her chest. She needed to move, she needed to do something, she needed-

She needed to keep Lissa safe.

The yellow-clad princess leapt off their horse, and tried to run for her brother. Anali threw herself off, tackling Lissa to the ground. Lissa screamed, and thrashed against Anali's grip; she had even gone as far as to bite Anali's hand. It did not matter if Anali argued that Chrom, and by extension Emmeryn, wouldn't want Lissa in the line of danger like this. Or that the other Shepherds would be at his side before anything could happen.

Around them, Vaike, Sully, Stahl, and Kellam were already charging towards their prince with weapons brandished. Donnel was in a state of confusion, while the remaining three trailed close behind. Frederick was the closest to Chrom, his horse was in full gallop.

And in a flash, Chrom was gone.

A shrill whinny caught everyone's attention, a lone pegasus glided through the air with the prince seated right behind it's rider. Chrom's breath was caught in his throat, stunned by the sudden turn of events. He was two seconds away from withdrawing Falchion before the lances could strike. Even if he could have cut down a couple of them, he wouldn't have been able to prevent serious injury. Until the pegasus rider grabbed a hold of him as they swooped down, that is. But the sudden rescue wasn't what surprised him the most, no, what surprised him was the rider.

"Sumia?" he questioned.

"Better hold on tight, Captain," Sumia said firmly, her eyes kept forward as she instructed pegasus' path thought the air. "Could get bumpy."

"Uh… right," Chrom said dumbly.

The young woman let out a slight chuckle before she looked back at her captain over her shoulder. "You'll be fine," she assured him.

All Chrom could really do at the moment was stare in awe of her. This was the same sweet, clumsy, demure girl he had known for quite a few years now. Now that girl was replaced with someone with such an air of confidence and conviction. Chrom fully knew Sumia's riding abilities was impeccable, on a horse that is. Sumia entered the Shepherds as a Pegasus Knight, taught, and recommended by Phila herself, but Chrom had seen her fly so few times, he really did not know how skilled she was in the air. How could Chrom not see it before?

It was the line of Feroxi archers that broke Chrom out of his stupor. He did not know much about pegasi, but what he did know was that they were vulnerable to arrows. "Sumia!" Chrom said, drawing out Falchion.

"Right!" Sumia returned, pulling at the pegasus' reigns.

The pegasus glided down until she met with even ground then she stopped with a gallop. Lissa, taking Anali by surprise, got onto her feet and sprinted up to the pegasus. "I'm so relieved I made it in time, Captain," Sumia breathed out as Chrom dismounted. Lissa nearly threw him to the ground with her running start and tight embrace.

"That goes double for me," Chrom replied, rubbing his sisters back. He looked back at the pegasus she rode, and realized the creature looked awfully familiar. "This isn't the same ornery pegasus we met on the road, is it?!"

Immediately, Lissa pushed herself away from Chrom to look at the mare. "Oh, yeah!" she said in awe. "Wow, she really calmed down since we last saw her."

"She's a sweetheart, isn't she?" Sumia smiled, running her hand through the pegasus' mane. "Once you really get to know her, that is."

"Well, many thanks to you both," Chrom smiled at them both.

"And I think we all had best focus on the situation at hand," Frederick said trotting up to the group. His face was red, and it most likely was not from the cold.

"All right," Chrom exhaled. "The Feroxi way it is. Anali, any ideas?"

The white haired woman looked back up at the fortress. The gates were sealed closed, with the two upper doors opening very briefly to let a few soldiers out. Where was the woman? Probably somewhere in back, waiting. "We're going to want to box in the general, so to speak," said Anali. "Our best play is to split up into two groups, find our way up, then attack the general on both sides. It won't matter how many soldiers we take out, unless we take out her, that's what she'll want."

Anali quickly divided up the group into two, which was a bit difficult, due to the odd number of units they had. Stahl was in charge of keeping Lissa safe when she wasn't healing them. Virion would be at a bit of a disadvantage given that he could only really attack from a far range. "Sully," Anali said with her hands up in front of her, "I know you'll have some grievance with this, but I need you two to stick together."

In return, Sully shot Anali a nasty look, but did not argue. The last two people she wanted to pair up were Donnel and Kellam (once she remembered he was there, that is). Donnel was still a little inexperienced, but Kellam was the best person Anali could think of to help the boy out.

The battle broke out when the Feroxi warriors made the next move. The most obvious thing to do now was to fight their way through the first wave. That wasn't going to be the hard part; the hard part would be to get through the doors. There was a chance that Sumia could fly up on her pegasus, but the archers were sure to shoot her down before she could even get to the general. And there was the fact that the general would be no pushover. Whoever landed the finishing blow could not do it alone without the woman retaliating.

What Anali found genuinely surprising was that Liam was actually skilled with a sword. He carried it in a reverse grip, which alone impressed Anali. And he was graceful, his balance was impeccable. Was this normal for a Bard? She would have to read up on that later.

"Anali heads up!" Kellam shouted with a javelin in hand.

Obediently, Anali dropped to her hands and knees, and immediately wished she hadn't. Gods damn it, snow was cold!

The javelin sailed over Anali, striking a Feroxi soldier about to fire an arrow at her. Then Donnel came running up after the javelin, and finished off the soldier. "All right there, Miss. Anali?" Donnel asked, helping her onto her feet.

"Yes," Anali replied with a slight smile. "Thank you. Donny!"

She shoved the boy out of the way, and slashed at the oncoming soldier's arm. "Let's try not to loiter," Anali said, pushing her bangs out of her eyes. "Gives them the opportunity to attack."

Chrom bashed the soldier on the head with the hilt of his sword, then threw them to the side. He looked over his shoulder, the snow on the ground was beginning to stain with red. It would have been quite the sight to look at, if the reason for that wasn't bloodshed, ironically enough.

He spotted Anali, she was giving Miriel brief instructions as the two battled against oncoming soldiers with Fire and Thunder magic. And Chrom couldn't help but smile to himself as he stabbed another soldier. She had only joined them for two missions but it already felt like Anali had been with them for years. He supposed that was what the battlefield could do. _'The blood of the covenant was thicker than the water of the womb,' _after all.

Miriel ran as best as she could with her cloak weighing her down, and her boots were not made for snow. She nearly slipped twice, thankfully she was able to catch herself both times. Gods know what would have happened if she didn't. Opening her tome she hurled her hand behind her, fire hit the sword-wielding soldier that was chasing behind her. Pleased with herself, Miriel pushed her glasses back into place, then continued on towards her destination.

At the foot of the stairs, stood a Feroxi soldier wielding a lance at the ready. Miriel charged right towards him, her tome opened, balanced in the palm of her hand. A blast of fire materialized in front of her, and shot itself towards the soldier. He dodged, then pushed forward, aiming his lance at Miriel. The red-haired Mage slid to the side, following it up with another spell. The soldier fell to the ground, and rolled around in the snow to put out the flames. He would be injured, but he wouldn't die. "Asinine knave," Miriel murmured as she picked up the fallen lance.

There was something silver tied to it, the key to the door. Just as Anali predicted. After removing the key, Miriel hurried up the flight of stairs to unlock the door. Over at the left-side door, Anali had successfully retrieved the key, and unlocked the door. She hardly had a moment to congratulate herself on a job well done, when a Feroxi soldier grabbed her by the ankle and pulled.

Anali was swept off her feet; her elbow slammed against the edge of a step, causing Anali to freeze up for a moment. Her mind went blank and her vision went white for what felt like ages.

The worst was over, she forced herself to focus back on the battle at hand, then she could worry about her elbow later. Of course, now she was going to have to work with her left hand, this was going to be difficult. The soldier pointed the tip of his blade right at her. Anali only narrowed rolled out of the way before for it could connect. The soldier lifted his sword again when blood squirted out from behind him. Gasping for breath, the man slumped to the side. "No loitering," Frederick said, shaking blood off his lance.

Nodding, Anali forced herself up as Frederick galloped past her. She followed close behind as the others began to ascend either flight. The Feroxi general shouted orders while her knights fought off against the Shepherds. It wasn't out of cowardice, it was the real test. If the Shepherds were who they claimed, then they should have been able to make their way towards her, and take her out. The Shepherds were renown in Ylisse for their strength, after all.

He overestimated the power of democracy, and therefore he made the error of leaving his axe back in Ylisstol. A mistake he would not make again. Frederick drove his lance through the shoulders of many of Regna Ferox's soldiers. They attacked his liege, they could have killed, or at least seriously injured him had Sumia not acted when she did. Frederick should have been closer to Chrom before they even launched their lances. The best way to make up for this was to secure victory against the general and get into Regna Ferox to the Khan.

Clicking his tongue Frederick snapped the reigns, urging Hermia up the stairs. His lance cut though Feroxi soldiers as he made a b-line for General Raimi, one of the East-Khan's finest soldiers, if he had to take a guess. Loath as he was to admit it, Anali was right; they were not getting into Regna Ferox until they defeated Raimi.

The blonde haired woman watched the battle play out intently, her lance held right beside her, but she never moved once. Not until she saw the man on horseback in the corner of her eye. She blocked Frederick's oncoming lance before it could do any damage to her. Raimi leapt back, then tore forward aiming her lance at the Great Knight. Frederick encouraged his horse forward, his lance struck her before she could hit him. "Impressive," Raimi said pulling herself back up. "Not many bandits have made it this far. However it's not impossible."

Raimi and Frederick exchanged and blocked several attacks. If he could just find a good opening he could successfully end this. It was as Sumia said before, every moment they wasted could cost Ylisse. Just one good shot and-

Pegasus feathers mingled with falling snow as something swooped down, straight at Raimi. Sumia's lance grazed at Raimi's cheek, a thin cut quickly appeared. Dumbstruck by Sumia's sudden action, she failed to notice Frederick's oncoming attack. His lance penetrated through Raimi's armor, and broke into her skin.

Crying out in pain, Raimi dropped her lance, and fell onto one knee, she clutched her injury, panting. "Then your claims were… were true…" Raimi said breathily. She took a deep breath in, and rose to her feet. "Soldiers hold!"

Murmurs rose as Feroxi's soldiers lowered their weapons. Raimi slowly hobbled to the balcony to look out at the soldiers on both sides below. "A thousand apologies, Prince Chrom," Raimi said, her voice still strong and clear. "I truly took you for brigand impostors. But no frauds could ever wager battle as you and your men have! I will send word of your arrival to the capital and escort you there personally."

"That would be most appreciated, thank you," Chrom said with a nod.

Raimi saluted before she walked off. Slowly the Feroxi soldiers filed off as the Shepherds regrouped. "Wow," Anali muttered under her breath. Lissa stood beside her with her elbow in hand and her healing staff in the other. "Her whole demeanor changed."

"In Ferox, strength speaks louder than words," Frederick said, dismounting his mare. He sighed. "I should have known better than to overestimate the value of diplomacy here…"

The light green glow from Lissa staff died down. She released Anali's arm, then rubbed her hands together, she had a few more to heal, but not in this cold. "Can we get going, Chrom?" asked Lissa.

"Yes," her brother replied, "it's not getting any warmer."

Outside of Castle Ferox the Shepherds set up camp. Lissa told Anali not to strain her arm, as it would be sore for the next couple of days, and to rub vulnerary on it every morning and night before going to sleep. To Anali's dismay, Chrom, Lissa and Frederick - well, more Chrom and Lissa than Frederick - asked her to join them to meet the Khan. Wasn't it enough that she had kitchen duty that night?

In reality, Castle Ferox was quite warm, but it _felt_ so much colder than Ylisstol Castle. It was a dark brick building, its interior walls were untouched, and there were very few people inside. It made Anali homesick for Ylisstol. Raimi lead the way, having been taken care of by one of Ferox's own healers; her injuries were not too, too serious. She lead them to the throne room where she turned back to the quartet. "Prince Chrom," she said curtly. "Please wait here while I summon the Khan."

"Of course."

Anali watched Raimi's retreating figure, then asked once she was out of ear shot, "The Khan is away?"

"Out training, I'm sure," said Lissa. "The Khan's of Ferox prefer battle to politics."

"Or rather, battle _is_ their politics," Chrom corrected.

"Ah," Anali said, putting on a weak, lopsided grin. "I can picture him now, a giant of a man of unparalleled thew. His broad chest covered in hair, as his tunic can hardly fit over his muscles."

"Am I now? Please, do go on."

Anali's expression dropped as her face started to turn very, very red. That was not a man's voice. A woman, a rather attractive woman at that, walked up to the four. Her skin was beautifully brown, her hair was a light shade of blonde and pulled back into a wild ponytail. She wore dark red and white armor under a tight black leather dress. Anali wanted to go burry herself immediately.

"You're the-?!" Chrom stuttered before he caught himself. He cleared his throat. "That is to say… The Khan, I presume?"

"One of them, yes," the woman replied. "I'm the East-Khan, Flavia Alexandrov. I apologize for the troubles at the border, Prince Chrom. You are welcome in Regna Ferox."

"Thank you," said Chrom. "But I'm confident we can put that misunderstanding behind us. Is it true bandits posing as Ylisseans have been ransacking your border villages?"

"Yes, those Plegian dogs!" Flavia spat back. She eyed Anali for a moment, specifically her coat. Instantly Anali tried to hide the purple eyes on her sleeve to no avail. "We found documents proving as much on the corpse of one of their captains. Plegia must seem some benefit in raising tensions between your kingdom and ours."

"Damn them!" snapped Chrom. "Ah… Forgive me, Your Grace. That was… indelicately put."

"Ha! Damn them and damn delicacy!" chortled Flavia. "Here in Ferox, we appreciate plain speech."

"In that case, you should have a word with your damn border guards…"

"Now that's Feroxi diplomacy! Yes, I like you already," Flavia said, clapping Chrom on the shoulder. Folding her arms, she cleared her throat. "I know why you come, Prince, but regrettably, I cannot provide any Feroxi troops for Ylisse."

"What?!" Lissa gasped. "Why not?!"

"I lack the authority."

"Huh?" Chrom asked without thinking. "But aren't you the Khan?"

"One of them, yes," replied Flavia. "In Ferox the Khans of the East and West hold a tournament every few years. The victor acquires total sovereignty over both kingdoms. And that means they have the final say when it comes to forging alliances. The West-Khan won the last tournament, you see, so…"

"Then we are to receive no aid?" Lissa's voice quivered.

"Not if you give up so easily!" snapped Flavia. "The next tournament just so happens to be on the morrow, you see, and I am in need of champions."

"What does that have to do with us?" asked Chrom.

"Raimi informs me your Shepherds are quite capable," Flavia said with a sly grin. "Perhaps you would consider representing the East in the tournament? If you win and I become ruling Khan, I will grant your alliance."

Chrom thought about this for a moment. "I would have thought Ylisseans had no place in such Feroxi traditions," he said.

"On the contrary," Flavia said matter of factly. "The Khans themselves do not fight - they choose champions to represent them. Otherwise our land would be rife with blood feuds and dead Khans."

"I guess that makes sense," murmured Anali. Well, it barely made sense.

"We don't involve comrades or kin for the same reasons. Over time, it was decided the tournament should be fought by outsiders. Although that never included foreign royalty… that I know of. Regardless, it is your choice to make."

"There is no choice, East-Khan," said Chrom. "My people are desperate. We face not only Plegia's constant attacks, but now the added threat of the Risen. If fighting for you is the quickest way for an alliance, then we will take up our steel."

"Oh, I like you, Prince Chrom," laughed Flavia. "I do hope you survive the tournament. Come, I'll show you the arena where the tournament is held."

Anali fell back with Lissa, the poor girl was looking a little put out at the moment. "Are you alright, Lissa?" she asked.

"Em… Yeah, I guess," she said, fiddling with a lock of hair. "I just assumed it would be a little easier than this. I mean, what if something happens to Emm or someone else because we've been gone too long?"

"Well, I'm sure Phila will be fighting tooth and nail to keep the Exalt safe," said Anali. "And we still have a few of the Shepherds back in Ylisstol."

"I guess," Lissa rubbed her hands together. "I'll have to get used to these sort of things, I suppose."

Flavia showed them the arena, a nice circular building that felt more welcoming than Flavia's domain. It helped Anali get a better idea of what the battle flow could be like, she was already beginning to size up the Shepherds in her head, trying to figure out who should be in the arena tomorrow while she asked Flavia the rules of the tournament. If the West-Khan's champions were anything like Raimi at the gate, then Anali needed to think this thoroughly through.

But, sadly, she couldn't look through her notes just now. Not only did Frederick want to squeeze in a little training, Anali was on kitchen duty. And she had never really cooked before, from what she could remember, anyway. And it really did not help that everyone had their own preferences.

It was not until she started cooking the local game Donnel trapped and/or snared did Anali realized how tired she was. Of course she was, the day was long, and Flavia's soldiers were no pushovers. As she started chopping vegetables to add to the meat for a beef stew, Anali stifled a yawn. "Finished training for today, Anali?" Chrom asked, walking into the kitchen tent.

Anali looked over her shoulder. "Frederick wanted me to get in a little combat practice," she said. "I wanted to review a few battle histories before the tournament but…" She yawned again

"You should make sure to relax a bit," Chrom said, taking the mushrooms from Anali and started to mince them himself. "Put your feet up. Experienced soldiers rest when they can. With things getting heated up between the kingdoms and Risen you never know when the next battle might break out."

"So I've noticed," Anali said, rubbing one eye. She flipped over the bits of meat, then nearly leapt back to avoid getting burned by flying blood or oil. Her shoulders relaxed, and she looked back at Chrom with a smile. "Don't worry. I'll try and rest when I can. A lady needs her beauty sleep, after all."

Guiding the knife down the onion he was working on, Chrom's eyes snapped open. He kept pushing, even after the knife made contact with the cutting board. He successfully snapped the blade clean off the handle. Chrom stared at Anali, looking at her as though she just sprouted a third eye.

Anali blinked. "What?" she asked. "Did I say something?"

"Er, no… I-it's nothing. It's just that…" Chrom said. He placed the broken knife on the counter and grabbed a new one. He shrugged casually. "Well, I just didn't consider you the type to care about beauty and such… I suppose I've never really thought of you as a lady."

"_Excuse_ me?!" Anali snapped turning away from the griddle.

If looks could kill, then the glare Anali was giving him would have incinerated Chrom on the spot. Wow, she was mad. All he just said was… _Oh_… "No! I mean - I didn't mean - not like that!" Chrom blurted out. The food was now laid forgotten. "That is to say, a 'lady,' per se… eh… You know, how you fight and strategize, and… Not to say a lady can't fight, but…" Exasperated he raked his fingers through his hair. "Gods, this is coming out all wrong."

_'Coming out all wrong' _indeed! Did Chrom actually think before he said anything? Anali could easily imagine Sully's reaction if she heard this. And she would have been downright pissed. "Good gods, Chrom!" Anali snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. She could feel a dull ache in her injured elbow, but it was easy enough to ignore. "You're the scion of the royal family, aren't you?! Didn't they teach you manners at your fancy-shmancy schools growing up?"

"Oh, gods, _yes_! _Of course _they did!" Chrom said, he almost sounded offended at the notion. His tutors were never the lively bunch. "We spent a whole term on etiquette!"

"Perhaps you could use another term, this time on how to talk with a lady!"

"It's just my image of a lady is someone prim and proper!" Chrom stressed. He wasn't aiming to insult, far from it. If anything Anali should have taken that as a _compliment_. "You know, perfumed and pretty… Nothing like you at all!"

Anali scowled, then started to look through the frying pans hanging off the counter. She took two of them into her hands and weighed them against each other. "When I look at you, I just don't see a 'lady.' Does that…?" Chrom's voice trailed off as Anali held up the cast-iron pan. "Er, Anali? What… What are you doing with that?"

Her red eyes narrowed and traveled to the side to look at Chrom, as she held the pan up like a sword. "I'm thinking a sharp blow to the head might help fix your eyesight," she said darkly.

Chrom's expression dropped; he held his hands up in defense. "W-wait! It was just a joke! Just a…" he insisted with a weak laugh. A couple of moments of silence pasted between them, until… "Gotta go!"

In a flash, Chrom was out the tent. Anali pushed the flap open, shouting, "Coward!" at the Prince's retreating form. Closing the tent, Anali threw her hand down. "The nerve of him!"

So because she was a fighter and a strategist, that was supposed to make her less of a lady? How rude!

Well… in a way it was only fair. Anali easily forgot that he was technically a prince of Ylisse. And after a display like that, she definitely did not think of him as a gentleman. So they were even in that sense.

"But he didn't need to say it out loud," Anali mumbled to herself, her arms were crossed over her chest. She sniffed, was something burning? Eyes widening, Anali bolted for the food on the fire. "Damn it!"

While it was not spoken, it was unanimously agreed that no one was counting the days until Anali was on cooking duty again.

* * *

**Authors Note: **_'You should write a book; 'How to Offend Women in Five Syllables or Less.''_

Oh, come on, you can't tell me that you can't see Frederick telling Chrom that. Also, you can't tell me that the F!MU/Chrom supports aren't based off the F!MU/Marth base conversations in _Heroes of Light and Shadow_. You just can't.

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	6. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six  
The Two Falchions**

Sumia was the first one in her tent to wake up that morning. It was still early, not even dawn, but she just couldn't doze off again. She was nervous, not just for herself, but for everyone who could be in the arena today. From what Chrom recounted after his meeting with the East-Khan, it sounded like the tournament had a few bloodshed, if not _deaths_ in the past. Even if death could be avoided, there was still the fact that Ylisse was depending on this alliance, they just could not afford to lose.

She dressed herself in her tunic, skirt, and long gloves before she put her cloak and boots on. She decided to check up on the mare she more or less adopted yesterday, then check the armory tent to see if there was a sturdier lance she could use. No one really knew what Anali was planning, just that she was working out who to send into the arena, but it was always nice to be prepared.

She liked Anali, she was with Lissa when she said that if Anali was planning something diabolical for Ylisse, then she would have done it already. A month was more than enough time after all. That's not even counting the fact that she never hurt anyone out of ill intentions. Of course there were a couple of incidences when training, but that was to be expected, and it happened to everyone.

Sumia heard the stories about what happened in the Farfort, how Anali wanted to make sure the maidens those dastards had rounded up got to safety before they started attacking. How they had won by a simple distraction and stirring up a little confusion. Anali had been nice to talk to while Sumia tended to the Shepherds horses, and it was nice to discuss books with her.

Origins be damned! It would go against everything Ylisse stood for if they just tossed Anali to the wayside when she needed help. Her friends situation was just horrible, she had to have a family that was missing her. Someone out there had to be missing Anali.

The mare, who Sumia had taken to calling Rosella, was very comfortable with the other horses in their little makeshift stable. What was curious, however, was that Rosella bore a striking resemblance to Sully's stallion, Baldulf. Perhaps there was some form of relation between them, she was pretty sure horses and pegasi could breed just fine. Rosella's injury to her wing was fairly minor, however when the Shepherds found her, there were some pine needles and tree bark stuck to her, some of it was in the open wound, that was why she was so ornery.

After changing Rosella's bandages, Sumia scurried over to the armory, and was dumbstruck to find Frederick already there. He was studying one of the lances before he placed it back on the rack, then grabbed another for inspection. "Oh, Frederick!" she gasped with a bright smile. "Good morning! What are you doing up so early?"

Somewhat surprised, Frederick looked to see Sumia walking up to him. "Good morning, Sumia," he greeted with a friendly smile. "I'm inspecting everyone's weapons and armor to ensure all is well before the tournament."

"But it's not even dawn yet!" Sumia said in awe. Okay, she was up before dawn, but she couldn't sleep. Frederick made it sound like this was a regular occurrence. "Don't you ever sleep?"

"I have sworn to serve Chrom and the Shepherds to the best of my ability," Frederick replied with pride, complete with a straightened back. "As commander, Chrom bears a burden far heavier than any of ours. It would ill behoove me to neglect any opportunity to lessen the load."

The admiration in Sumia's eyes was hard to miss. If only she could have even a third of his stamina, maybe even she could be as dedicated. "He's fortunate to have you," she said with a broad smile. "Imagine getting up this early just to check gear!"

"I did not stir this morn simply to satisfy myself to our battle readiness," Frederick said matter-of-factly. With his eyes closed he began to list off his morning activities. "I also exercised, preformed a number of weapon drills, and patrolled the camp. Then I stoked the fire, readied the makings for morning tea, and consumed one egg."

"Er…" Sumia wasn't quite sure of what to say anymore. She knew Frederick went above and beyond with his duties, that was hardly a secret. This was going way, _way_ above and beyond the call of duty. Sumia was almost tempted to ask him if he ever slept again.

"Oh!" Frederick gasped, opening his eyes. "And I scared off a flock of noisy birds that were nestling too near milord's tent. Then, with no other pressing task, I took the time to inspect our equipment."

"Good heavens," Sumia said breathily. She was worn out from just hearing all of that.

Frederick stiffened. There were much better ways to converse with a young lady such as Sumia. And this was most definitely not one of them. "Apologies, my lady," he said after clearing his throat. "You must find my prattle to be terribly dull. I have often been criticized for what some consider to be an excess of zeal. Such devotion appears to make my comrades uneasy."

"No, no!" Sumia shook her head. She held her fists close to her chin as she beamed. "I think it's wonderful!"

"You do?" Frederick asked, stunned. This was certainly a first, how was he supposed to respond?

"Absolutely!" said Sumia. "You're an inspiration, Frederick. There's just no other word for it. Look at all you do for Chrom!" Slowly, Sumia's expression dropped, her bravado was not quite diminished, but it certainly wasn't the same as it was before. "It makes me wish I was more like you. I'm so sick of being the girl whose main contribution is falling on her face. I know we all need levity in these times, but I would still prefer to do more."

"I don't know what to say," a flattered Frederick said. "You're the first person who has ever understood what I'm trying to do. Perhaps we should join our causes to each other. We should be the grease that keeps the Shepherds running smoothly."

Sumia's smile perked back up. "Now that's a splendid idea!"

As the sun began to peek over the horizon, more and more of the Shepherds were beginning to wake. Virion woke up to the sight of Liam, sitting up in his cot, writing something on a piece of parchment pressed against his knee. "What have we got here?" asked Virion. "Ice cold Liam writing to his sweetheart?"

Glaring, Liam slowly looked Virion straight in the face. "Do I look like some love-struck idiot, Ruffles?" he asked.

"Well, I would not say 'love-struck,'" murmured Virion. Grinning, he said out loud, "No need to be shy, dear Liam. If anyone knows the passion stirred up by a beautiful woman, it is I."

"I believe you mean 'the _lust_ stirred up by beautiful _women_,'" Liam corrected dryly.

"Your words cut deep," sighed Virion. His head hung low in defeat.

With a roll of his eyes, Liam turned his attention back to his work. In a flash, Virion reached over, and snatched the parchment from Liam. "Bastard!" Liam snapped, his tone was loud to wake Stahl, and Kellam.

"I'll give it back," promised Virion. "I just want to look."

A flash of anger tore through Liam's eyes. He nearly leapt across to Virion's cot, and they both came dangerously close to toppling over. The blond man tore the parchment from the archer's hand; standing up, he stuffed it into the collar of his nightshirt. Liam pulled on his boots, and stomped out into the frigid air without anything else on.

Stahl let out a low whistle. "Gotta be the first time I've ever seen a reaction like that out of him."

"Well, then," said Virion, "in that case, I am accomplished."

"That's… not really something to brag about…" murmured Kellam.

In the mess tent, a light breakfast had been prepared, courtesy of Frederick, with a little help from Sumia. The tournament would be held at mid-day, until then they were encouraged to do some training, but not to overexert themselves. Vaike had set up a practice dummy and got out a dull axe. He did not quite know what the tactician had in mind for the arena, but he needed to keep himself busy until the tournament starts either way. He hated waiting. Especially if it was for as something as important as creating alliances.

"Would you be so kind as to put an end to your caterwauling?" Miriel spoke up, startling him slightly. "I'm trying to read, but I can't hear myself think over your incessant grunting."

The red haired mage had on her thick winter cloak, and her wide rimed hat, as always. And, naturally, a book in hand. If Miriel was not doing experiments or taking notes, she was most likely reading. In all the time Vaike had known Miriel it was no secret that she had a bit of a 'gift' for walking around while she was in the middle of reading something. The only reason she had not lost her head yet was because of the Shepherd's pulling her out of trouble.

Vaike simply grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "You gotta give it your all when ya train," he told her. "Or it's just a waste of time."

"Hm…" Miriel adjusted her specs as she thought. "Yes, I suppose that makes sense. The explosive release of air from the lungs generates power in peripheral muscles."

"The peri-what mussels now?"

"And rapid spin attacks create centripetal force that increases over all speed. Fascinating! I imagine you used complex calculus to optimize your methods?"

"Lady, from what you just said I understood 'fascinating,' and that's about it," Vaike said rubbing the back of his neck.

"Surely you developed these skills of yours by calculating the forces involved?" Miriel asked inquisitively.

Vaike waved his hand at this. "I don't need a buncha math mumbo jumbo," he insisted. "I do it all by instinct!"

"Irrational means have yet taken you to a rational technique," murmured Miriel. Gripping her chin, she thought about it for a moment. "Fascinating. Perhaps this 'instinct' of which you speak bears further investigation."

"Fightin' a war ain't rational, lady," Vaike informed her. "Just watch me in the next battle. Can't really show off what I got against something that can't attack back."

"Very well," Miriel replied as she snapped her book back open. "I shall do just that."

If there was a morning to distract yourself with something or other, this was the morning. Let it be brushing up on one's skills or just taking up a light activity, Donnel was trying to do a little bit of both. While he would not deny that being one of the Shepherd's was quite the experience, he felt like there was more he could be doing. He was never that strong a fellow, but what if he wasn't meant to be that sort of soldier?

He had tried a couple of different things with the others. Archery, swordplay, he even asked Anali about her strategizing whats-its. This morning, Donnel got the idea to try looking into magic, like that stern-looking lady Miriel, or that kid Ricken. So while Miriel was out, Donnel took a peek at her scrolls (not stealing them, just borrowing). It seemed like a good idea at the time, but the problem? He could not read hide or tail of anything. Oh, sure, some things he could read, but he didn't understand it. And some of it was just straight up gobblygook.

Donnel wasn't quite sure how long he had been sitting there in the mess tent, trying to make sense of the scroll, but his frustration was quickly reaching the point where he was about ready to tear the thing in half. "Donny, settle down," Stahl said, placing a teakettle and a couple of cups on the table. "I can practically see smoke rising from your head. Why don't you take a break and have a soothing cup of nettle tea. It's a little bitter, but it'll settle your nerves if you can keep it down."

"Thank ya kindly, Stahl," Donnel said as his senior poured him a cup of tea.

"Think nothing of it," he said while pouring himself a cup. Placing the kettle down, he took a sip. "Now, once you're calm, then we can start thinking about what kind of soldier you want to be."

Donnel almost choked on his tea when Stahl said this. "How'd ya know that's what I was doin'?" he asked. "I ain't said nothin' about it to ya."

"Back at the garrison, you were picking locks, then you were practicing archery," Stahl explained casually. "Now I find you attempting to decipher a scroll to 'smite thine enemies with fire.' Either you're incredibly bored, or you aren't satisfied with your current role."

"Welp," sighed Donnel. "I s'pose the cat's outta the bag now…" He thought for a moment, before his brows rose in interest. "Hey, Stahl. Yer pretty clever. What do ya reckon I should do?"

Stahl thought for a moment, his cup warming his hands. "Well, I don't know anything about tomes or magic staves," he confessed. "But I'm a keen student of weapons, especially sharp ones. You could do what I did and watch the experienced sellswords and knights."

Donnel shot onto his feet with a broad smile on his face. "And then I could learn what weapon might work best for me!" he exclaimed after he slammed his hands onto the table. "Gosh, that's a dilly of an idea! And I've done got the perfect opportunity today!"

Immediately, the village boy put his winter cloak back on. He gathered the scroll into his arms while Stahl said over him, "Wait, Donny, it's not enough to just pick a weapon you like. You need training and-" But Donnel was already outside. "And he's gone…"

Staring straight ahead, Stahl took another drink from his bitter tea. Their newest recruit was quite the eager one. However Stahl could not quite decide if that was a good or bad thing just yet.

Khan Flavia was already waiting by the arena come time for the tournament. She looked out over the arena with her arms crossed over her chest by the time Chrom and the others arrived. "Just a warning, Prince Chrom," Flavia said without looking over her shoulder. "I hear an equally able swordsman champions the West-Khan."

"He shall be defeated by Ylisse's necessity," Chrom replied unwavering.

"Well spoken," said Flavia. She looked over her shoulder with a broad smile. "I look forward to seeing how you fair!"

On the ground floor, just outside the arena's boundaries, Anali rallied up the units she wanted out in the arena with her and Chrom. While the West-Khan had nine units on their side, Anali picked five (six including Chrom) for this battle. "Are you sure that's wise?" Frederick asked her. "These are not bumbling bandits, they're the best the West-Khan has to offer."

"Do you doubt our army, Frederick?" Anali asked him.

"Of course not!" Frederick snapped back, almost offended Anali would suggest such a thing. _He_ was the one who trained most of them, after all.

"Good," the white haired woman smiled. "We'll be just fine then."

And the five units? Anali herself, Frederick, Sully, Vaike, and Virion. If Anali were to rank the Shepherds in strength and skill, Frederick, Sully and Vaike would certainly be in the top five. And Anali was pretty sure all three of them would take offence if they were not.

The rules for the tournament were simple. The East and West Khan's chose their champions, and they duked it out in arena. The side whose champions were all taken out either loses, or forfeits power. There were ways units could be removed from the arena. Either they step over the arena boundaries or if they drew enough blood that they need an immediate healer. Or, in worse case scenario, if they are killed, but in recent years they tried to avoid death as much as possible. Of course, sometimes, in the heat of competition it could not be helped, but if Anali had a say in it, anyone fighting for the East-Khan and Ylisse would not be taking any lives.

"I think we should be okay," Anali said while she pushed her bangs back with one hand. "If the West-Khan's men are anything like Flavia's yesterday, then I want Lissa to be ready when someone is taken out."

"Mm-hm, mm-hm!" Lissa nodded with a small smile.

The West-Khan's champions stood on the opposite end of the arena as Regna Ferox's citizens began to file in. Apparently the tournament was an annual, much anticipated, spectacle. It was do or die time. "Chrom!" Lissa exclaimed grabbing her brother by his sleeved arm. "Look!"

"I see him," Chrom said, somewhat darkly.

"Hm?" Anali exhaled. She looked forward to find a familiar young man in blue with a butterfly mask over his eyes. "What?"

As far as Anali had heard, there wasn't much news on Marth and his whereabouts after the Risen first arrived. What was he doing in Regna Ferox? Anali bit her lower lip, that night Lissa found herself cornered by an axe-wielding Risen. Chrom wouldn't have been able to make it in time, but, thankfully, Marth was.

Anali shook her head, she was worrying over nothing. If Chrom defeated Marth in battle it would be because this was a tournament, not out of malice or disrespect. In fact, he would undoubtedly insult Marth if Chrom held back. "Marth!" Chrom called projecting his voice. "One question, before we begin?"

Marth said nothing. His expression was unreadable. "Fine, then," Chrom said to himself before he spoke louder, "Our swords can speak for us!"

Standing firm, Chrom removed Falchion from its sheath. Almost immediately after Marth took out his own sword; a blade, exactly identical to the Falchion.

"What the hell?!" Sully exclaimed. She was shocked, _actually_ shocked. Sully Rivers, the woman to end all men, the woman with nerves of steel, and a snarky comeback always up her sleeve, was at an utter lose for words.

"What?" Anali asked, she looked up at the red-head.

"It's gotta be a fake," Vaike said, shaking his head. He may as well have just seen someone's ghost. "It's gotta be."

"_What?_" stressed Anali.

"The Falchion is one of Ylisse's treasured heirlooms," Frederick explained. He was calm, compared to the others, but just as confused as Anali. "Used by the first Exalt to slay the Fell Dragon, Grima, and said to have been used by the Hero-King himself." Frederick looked Anali in the face. "There's one in existence, owned by the Ylisse royal line."

Chrom did not notice Marth's sword the night the Risen arrived, not when he was so focused on saving Lissa. Marth sheathed his blade as soon as the Risen were gone, Chrom never got a good look at it. This did not make sense, the Falchion was not an easy sword to replicate, as it was forged from Naga's fang, or so the legends say. Even reforgeing the blade itself wasn't an easy task.

"Where did you get that?" asked Chrom. Still Marth did not reply. It couldn't be the real Falchion, it couldn't be wielded by just anyone. Unless… Chrom forced the notion out of his head, it was downright preposterous. "There's no way…"

Darting forward, Chrom leaped into the air to build momentum. He balled himself up and began spinning at rapid speeds as he made his descent. Snapping back to his full height, Chrom's sword clashed with Marth's, as he landed safely, creating small sparks when Marth blocked the attack.

The two exchanged blows creating more sparks with each collide of the sword. Marth was certainly a skilled swordsman, who managed to work around his obvious disadvantage. It was easy for anyone to see that Marth did not have the strength Chrom had, the prince dwarfed him by a full head, and Marth clearly didn't have the muscle Chrom did. Yet, Marth worked around this in a way that looked so effortless, 'looked' being the keyword.

"Tell me," Chrom said as Marth's blade pushed against his. "Who taught you to fight like that?"

In unison, they leapt back a few meters. Gathering their bearings, both swordsmen pushed forward, their Falchion's scraping against each other. Sliding to a stop, Marth leapt into the air, perfectly mimicking Chrom's earlier, gravity-defying spin attack.

"My father!" Marth shouted while he made his descent.

Chrom skillfully dodged Marth's attack before he could strike. The masked boy's sword struck the floor, he stood up, staring at the Shepherds. "Let us fight with honor," Marth declared at them. "May the best soldier win!"

"Hot damn," Sully muttered under her breath. "Looks like Chrom may have found his equal."

"Marth is a gifted swordsman, and his men look capable as well," Anali agreed. She bit the pad of her thumb and rolled her eyes to the side before she shrugged. "Not that that observation is actually helpful. Perhaps it's best we-"

She was cut off by Vaike and Sully's battle cries as they sprinted into the arena, after the West-Khan's champions. Resisting a sigh, Anali withdrew her sword and entered the fray. She was a bit impressed, and if not a little envious, with how balanced the West-Khan's men were. Two generals, two mages, two fighters, and three swordsmen.

The metallic _cling, cling's _echoed across the arena, drowned out only by the cheering crowd. Eight out of the nine championing the West-Khan fought amongst the Shepherds. Marth stood in the back near the arena boundary, his arms crossed over his chest, presumably watching the battles play out intently. Anali quickly realized that Marth may have very well taken a page out of Raimi's book.

Marth was the real challenge.

Because there was an effort made to avoid deaths, Anali had given Virion the specific instruction to watch his comrades backs, but avoid hitting their opponents vital organs. He was truly gifted with a bow and arrow (and possibly tactics as well, but Anali chose to ignore that), and was far more clever than he chose to let on. It would have been child play for Virion to make a kill shot.

It was the two mages that Virion had to look out for. He was willing to wager that they were either on par with their own Miriel, or they utterly blew her out of the water. Of course, they would have to be the best of wherever they came from if the West-Khan chose them for the tournament. But with a simple arrow to the hand, the mages would not last much longer.

Vaike was going head-to-head with one of the swordsmen. He was a tall fellow with shaggy black hair and clothes that looked like they came straight from Chron'sin. The Vaike so rarely gave others compliments, but this man was very, very skilled. It would not have surprised him if this man was second-in-command to that 'Marth' character, after all it was difficult for Vaike to get in a good hit. Loath as he was to admit it, Teach needed a little help.

And help came to him in the form of Anali, of all people. Vaike's thoughts and opinions on the woman were a secret to no one. He did not like Anali, he did not trust Anali. And here she was coming to his aid. He did not ask for help, she was just there.

There was a part of Anali that mentally berated herself. She still was not all that confident in her abilities with a sword. And this dark haired man clearly had years of training under his belt. But Vaike was struggling, he needed help. The swordsman blocked Anali's attack with great expertise. There was a moment, when their swords met, that Anali noticed something about the mans eyes. Not his face, that remained straight and calm, but his eyes, his pupils shrank. What got that reaction?

Quickly, the swordsman drew his arm back, and struck Anali's sword. The force prompted a flurry of sparks into the air, as a _clang, clang _was heard. Anali looked down at her blade. She paled instantly. There must have been a crack in it that she did not notice as her sword was broken in half. She had it on her since she first woke up, and now she wasn't quite sure if she wanted to weep for her loss, or cut her losses and run.

The battle cry Vaike released as he swung his axe into the swordsman's side was enough to startle both of them. The force of the blonds attack was enough to knock the West-Kahn's swordsman off his feet. His tunic had been cut open, and blood was beginning to seep out from the newly opened wound. The swordsman held up both hands, signaling his yield and out.

Vaike exhaled as the swordsman disappeared off the arena, and out of sight. Anali took a moment to study her ruined sword. When she thought about it, it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. It was not the most sturdiest of swords. Looks like she was sticking to tomes until she could get a new one.

She looked up at Vaike, half-expecting him to tell her that he could have handled it on his own, or to simply butt out. But instead, he gave her a very small smile. Seeing this, Anali could not help but smile herself, and allowed herself to hope that things between them would begin to improve.

The West-Khan was down both fighters, a mage, a knight, and two swordsmen. Virion had taken the fighters out with a couple of arrows in the knees (something he would later say Anali inspired, much to her embarrassment). One of the Mages hardly stood a chance against Sully, there was a reason Anali chose her to fight in this tournament after all. The Knight was unfortunate enough to battle against Frederick, with his fellow soldier being the next one on the chopping block.

The West-Khan's second mage fell to the floor, his tome laid out in the open, forgotten. The man gripped his leg, which was bleeding profusely. His opposite arm had also been cut into. He looked up at Prince Chrom, the very man who struck him down, almost expecting him to finish the job. But, instead, Chrom turned to look straight at Marth, his sword freshly redrawn.

Marth, and by extension his father, were quite the swordsmen. It had been quite a while since someone really made Chrom have to put his all into it. "Who is your father?" he asked Marth.

"I've said enough for one day, sir," the masked man said curtly, he turned his head to the side, as though he were trying to avoid eye contact.

"Is that how it is?" Chrom asked in reply, almost thinking out loud. "Lissa owes you her life, and for that you have my gratitude. But within these walls, I represent the East-Khan and the interests of Ylisse. I can't promise to stay my blade, but I vow not to shame you."

Marth scoffed. "Never expected such youthful arrogance," he admitted. "We shall see who shames who!"

And then he broke forward. There was not much difference between the two in skill and power than when the tournament first began. Marth was able to predict and counter Chrom's oncoming attacks, and vice versa. It made Chrom all the more curious about Marth's father. He certainly seemed like a man that was worth meeting.

But, now was not the time for such thoughts and desirers. Right now he needed to find an opening and take out Marth. But Marth would just predict what Chrom had planed for him. At this rate, the only way either of them was going down was because they both collapsed from exhaustion.

Chrom spotted orange-yellow lights flickering in the corner of his eye. Volts of electricity struck Marth square in the chest. He stumbled back onto his knees, using his sword as a crutch while he breathed. Immediately, Chrom ran up to Marth, and sliced an open wound into his bust. "Impressive…" Marth rasped, slowly, he got back onto his feet. His arms covered the wound. "If not surprising…"

Chrom looked over his shoulder, Anali was busy sliding her tome back into its sling. She had on a rather cheeky smile. "Sorry, was he yours?" she asked.

"No, no," Chrom smiled, waiving his free hand. "All yours."

The West-Khan's champions fell like flies after Marth yielded. Virion suffered a few burns on his hand from one of the mages. Frederick's armor had a dent in it; Anali pitied the man who did that. And Vaike had been nicked in the abdomen, Virion's hand had gotten the worst of it, not helped that he still fired arrows with the burn. Lissa was not afraid to smack him on the shoulder for that. She was able to heal him, his hand would be as good as new, given Virion did not use it for a few days.

The crowd was still abuzz when the tournament was over, some of them even whispered that they hoped the Ylissens would be fighting for Flavia next tournament. However, no one was as ecstatic as Flavia. By the time she approached Chrom, Lissa was looking over her brother and Anali.

"Well fought!" Flavia beamed as she slapped Anali on the back getting a muttered 'ow' out of her. "You have my respect. And, perhaps more to the point, you have your alliance. I will provide Ylisse with the soldiers she needs."

"Truly?" Chrom asked her, trying to keep his voice under control. The last thing he needed was to come off as an excited schoolboy. "Thank you, East-Khan."

"I should thank you!" Flavia corrected, she winked at Chrom before she stretched her arms above her head. "It feels like ages since I've held full power. Come, my new friends! Tonight, we celebrate!"

Flavia ran off towards the exit, she plowed into one of her soldiers, and wrapped her arm around their neck, dragging them with her. As they disappeared through the corridor, Flavia could be heard shouting about cracking open their finest mead. "Bah," scoffed a tall, muscular black man. "Any excuse for a party, and Flavia jumps on it…"

Anali tried to repress a shutter as soon as she saw the eye patch over what would have been his left eye. The man looked like a seasoned warrior, if the muscles, and armor did not imply such a thing already. "I'm sorry, have we met?" asked Chrom.

The man pointed to himself with his thumb. "I'm Basilio," he explained. "The West-Khan you so rudely removed from power!" Basilio cleared his throat; his demeanor changed instantly. "You're handy with a sword, boy. I thought for sure I'd picked the stronger man."

"What do you know about him?"

"You mean that 'Marth?' He's just some sellsword with delusions of grandeur," Basilio explained. "All I know is that he turned up one eve and knocked my old champion flat." He suddenly started beaming. "It was love at first sight, and I'm generally too old for such things!" he laughed. "Anyway, he's gone now. Up and fled the moment the tournament ended."

Anali's brow rose. Marth left without seeing a healer? Hopefully that was a sign that her spell and Chrom's attack did not do much damage to his chest. But then again, he could have insisted he walk it off because stupid pride got in the way. "He's so dark and mysterious," Lissa sighed dreamily.

Anali couldn't help but grin. "Sounds like Marth's got at least one fan," she said, nudging Lissa with her elbow.

The blonde princess looked up at her. "Well, I mean, c'mon, he _is_ sort of dreamy, isn't he?"

"And _you're_ sort of dreaming!" Chrom chided.

"Yowch!" Lissa flinched in fake pain. "Lighten up, Big Brother. I was just kidding."

"One last thing, boy," Basilio spoke up. "Before you go, I have a little present for you."

At Basilio's side, a young man with dark hair stood. Anali immediately recognized him as the same man who fought against Vaike during the tournament. The same one who broke her sword "This is Lon'qu, my former champion," Basilio said, lacing an arm around Lon'qu's shoulder. "Not much for talking, mind you, but he's peerless with a sword. As good as Marth, in my mind. To be honest, I can't figure out how Marth bested him so quickly."

"Marth beat him?!" Lissa gasped, a hand just touching her lips. "But he looks so big and strong…"

Lowering her hand, Lissa took two steps forward towards Lon'qu. Perhaps she intended on introducing herself and welcoming him. But instead, Lon'qu took a large step back, snapping, "Away, woman!"

Startled, Lissa's pigtails almost stood up on end. "Wh-What did I say?!" she gasped.

Basilio threw his head back, laughing. "Let's just say that ladies tend to put Lon'qu on edge," he explained. "Nonetheless, he is capable. Perhaps he even has the making of a Khan. Consider him West Ferox's contribution to the Ylissean cause."

Chrom arched a brow. "You're certain about this?"

"Yes, yes," Basilio said waving a hand. "He's your man now."

"And Lon'qu?" Chrom asked the dark haired man. "You have no objections?"

"He gives orders. I stab people," Lon'qu said bluntly. "I think our roles are clear."

Chrom looked over his shoulder at Anali. She shrugged in response. What was he looking at her for? _He_ was the one in charge, Anali just created strategies and tried to keep everyone's arses safe. "All right then," Chrom nodded. He held his hand out to Lon'qu. "Welcome aboard."

* * *

Anali stared forward, she held a tankard in her hand, starting to feel a little warm in the face. Flavia, feeling particularly generous, according to the messenger, had given the Shepherds a keg of ale, some of their best meat, vegetables, fresh bread, figs and chocolate for their little army to have their own celebration. They had a fine feast that night and opened the keg.

Memories or not, Anali was pretty certain she had never had any sort of alcohol before. Or at least she didn't drink much to begin with. The ale tasted a bit fruity with a hint of spice in it. She had drained a little less than half her tankard, and already felt warm, while the others, including Sumia, of all people, were on their second tankard.

If Anali was to be honest, she was not quite sure what sate she would currently be in, if not for the bear meat she wolfed down. She liked it much more than she originally thought. What would this have tasted like when dried into jerky, she wondered.

She sat with Stahl, Sully, Donnel, Vaike, and Liam. Sully's face was redder than Anali's, and was on her third tankard of ale. "I think you had enough," Liam said, taking the tankard from her. "Anymore and I'm sure you'll embarrass yourself, and the army."

The redhead pouted uncharacteristically. The woman to end all men was gone.

Did Liam do that for Sully's well being, or to save face while they were still in Feroxi territory, Anali wondered. She popped a small chocolate ball into her mouth. It melted on her tongue and ran delightfully down her throat. Something caught her eye, Lon'qu had gulped down a mug of water, then walked out of the mess tent as he unsheathed his sword. "What'd you guys make of that Lon'qu character?" Anali asked.

"Him?" Vaike asked, gesturing to the flapping door. "Another lone wolf. We've got enough of those."

To get his point across, Vaike gestured to Liam. The Bard either did not care, or did not catch the jape, as he said nothing in response. "He doesn't seem to like women that much," said Kellam. Anali nearly leapt out of her seat; she plum forgot he was even there. "Like he's afraid of them."

"I don't think that's it," Stahl said before he bit into a fig. "Not completely. There's a bit more to it."

Anali bit the inside of her cheek. So she wasn't just seeing things in the arena, Lon'qu really did show a hint of fear when she intervened. His little gynophobia could prove to be a problem when it came to working with the female's in the Shepherds. They were going to need to fix that, or at least work around it. They could not just keep Lon'qu away from the women, it just wasn't possible. But maybe they could just help him take his mind off the fact that he's working with a woman.

It might be the alcohol talking, but Anali was getting an idea.

Getting up, Anali slid her arms through her cloak sleeves and scooped up the bowl of figs. There were a few murmurs of protest, which ended with Sully finally conking out. Anali assured them she was putting the figs to good use. Once out of the mess tent, she went straight to the armory tent, and got out a bronze sword. They were usually used for training, so Anali planed on putting it back afterwards. Sometime after returning to Ylisstol, she would have to go to the blacksmith.

She found Lon'qu, right where she expected to find him, in front of one of the practice dummies, working on a couple of moves. "Hey!" Anali said, half-jogging into the training field. "You know, I find it better to train with a living person. But, you know what? You've got a volunteer. You'll go easy on me, won't you?"

Anali withdrew the bronze sword, hoping that the bow of figs was concealed by the fabric of her coat. "Hmph," grumbled Lon'qu.

Her brow arched. "Was that a yes or a no?" she asked. Anali shrugged. "Doesn't matter, let's get on with it!"

She broke forward, swinging the sword at the side. Lon'qu dodged effortlessly, hardly flinching, hardly blinking. She quickly learned that using one arm, while trying to keep the figs from spilling over wasn't her most brilliant of ideas. As a result, Anali nearly fell face-first into the snow. "Hehe!" giggled Anali after she stood herself upright. "You're as good as they say!"

"Thank you," Lon'qu breathed out.

The white haired woman puckered her lips out in a pout. "But not even bothering to raise your sword?" she asked. "That's a bit condescending, don't you think?"

"Swordplay is a man's pursuit," said Lon'qu. He turned his back to Anali, with a hand hovering over his sword handle. "What does a woman know of- WHA-?!"

_Pow!_

Quickly, Lon'qu looked over his shoulder to face Anali, his hand pressed against the back of his head. Anali stood smiling innocently, as she rocked back and forth on her heels. "What in blazes are you doing, woman?!" Lon'qu demanded. He looked down at the snow where the object that hit him landed. "Why are you… throwing… figs?!

"If you can't get close to a foe, you must engage him at long range," Anali said matter-of-factly, she put her sword hand onto her hip. "Basic tactics, really, I'm surprised you'd be unfamiliar with them."

"Well, no matter," Lon'qu said, brushing snowflakes and fig guts off his shoulder. "It's not as if you'll ever hit me with one-"

"Ooooh! That sounds like a challenge!" Anali beamed. "All right, twinkle toes. Dodge this!"

She grabbed another fig from the bowl, and hurled it at Lon'qu. Followed by another, and another, and another. "S-stop it!" he shouted, shielding himself with is arms.

"We have to… get close," Anali said in between throws. "To… train properly!"

With each step back Lon'qu took, Anali followed, with another fig. This couldn't keep up, Lon'qu told himself, she had to run out eventually. But after getting whopped in the head one too many times, he had enough. He was a well-respected myrmidon! "I won't stand here to be pelted with fruit by a madwoman!" Lon'qu snapped at her. "I'm leaving!"

"Coward!" Anali shouted at his retreating figure. She grabbed another fig. "You get back here!"

She broke off into a run, chasing after Lon'qu; still throwing figs at him. Eventually, he started running across camp, shouting obscenities at Anali, and calling her a madwoman more than once. They passed Frederick's tent, just as the man in question stepped out. His armor had long since been removed, and odds were, he was about to remind the Shepherds not to get carried away with the drinking, and that it was almost time for lights out.

He watched the scene play out in confusion, their newest recruit running through camp, and their tactician chasing after him with a bowl of figs. "Anali," Frederick called after the pair ran by him a second time. "What, in Naga's name, are you doing?"

"Testing a theory!" shouted Anali.

* * *

**Authors Note: **I actually like to think Basilio sent Lon'qu with the Shepherds to help him with is little 'problem' with women. I mean, since most of Lon'qu's ending's have him going back to Regna Ferox, and back to Basilio.

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven  
Something There?**

_It's raining. Hard. I'm drenched before too long. I'm cold, chilled to the bone. "Fall back and form up!" I hear. It's a deep, rumbling male voice that sounds vaguely familiar. "Don't let them scatter us!"_

_I turn to find Khan Basilio shouting orders to his soldiers. The Feroxi soldiers obey, but not without taking out some stragglers along the way. "Sir, we have trouble," one of Basilio's soldiers say. "Their cavalry is riding right over us!"_

_"So we hold our ground!" Basilio barks at him. "We show them how a real Feroxi warrior fights!"_

_I hear cries from the battlefield. Basilio's men are being swatted down in showers of blood. The Khan's men hardly hve the chance to react before they were swiftly and brutally decapitated. I bite my lower lip, the opposing army was insanely strong, I don't know how Basilio's men canwin this. "Sir!" one of Basilio's men shouts. His shoulder and neck are bleeding fiercely. "We're dropping like cattle out there, we need to cut our losses!"_

_"Soldier, you'll find that 'surrender' is no where in my vocabulary!" Basilio barks back. He points at the battle field. "Now we fight his army until there's one man standing if we have to!"_

_"Sir, we're not fighting an army!"_

_I look into the field, where I see a single behemoth of a figure in the shadows. I suddenly wish the soldier had been wrong. "Aw crap," I hear Basilio hiss under his breath._

_The soldier in the shadows continues to swing his axe at Basilio's men, killing them all with one hit. One hit. Please, let Khan Basilio see reason. Please, please let him realize this is not a battle he can win._

_My prayers are not enough. Basilio mutters something to the soldier beside him, and the man runs off, leading other Feroxi soldiers off the battle field. Oh, gods please tell me he's not…_

_Gripping his axe tight into his hands, Basilio charges straight at the soldier. He does not give Basilio the chance to attack. With one swing of the axe, Basilio flies back. Blood was pools out around him as he starts gasping for breath. I need to do something, I want to do something, but I can't move. Why can't I move?!_

_"Impressive," says the soldier in the shadows. "Not many can withstand a single attack. But all have met with the same fate."_

_"It's a… a fate we both… share," Basilio chokes out. Blood begins to seep out from his mouth. "Believe me… I look forward to our… our rematch in hell…"_

_The soldier draws his blade back. "I'm afraid you'll have quite some time to wait then," he says._

_I feel a cry rise from my throat as the soldier brings his axe down. Basilio's lifeless body falls back onto the ground in a heap. His head flies meters away into the woods._

For a moment, Anali could not breathe. She sat up in her cot, ignoring the cool air that met her face. Sumia, Sully, and Miriel were still asleep, Anali was essentially alone. Fighting back tears, she pushed her bangs back, and brought her knees close to her chest, then rested her forehead against her knees.

It was just a dream, she told herself. It isn't real. It's just a dream.

But there was a split second when Anali swore that it was real. That Khan Basilio was really decapitated, dead. But the notion was ridiculous. The Khan's of Regna Ferox and their soldiers were no pushovers. There was no way Basilio would ever be brought down in two attacks. The thought was ridiculous.

Bringing her knees in closer, Anali muttered over and over to herself that it was just a dream, it wasn't real. It was just a dream, it wasn't real. She was completely unaware of that a young woman in the bunk beside her was a wake.

* * *

"What do you say?" Sumia said, brushing her hands through Rosella's mane. "Ride back to Ylisstol with us?"

Anali stared dumbly at Rosella. Yes, the mare had settled down immensely since Sumia took care of her wing, but pegasi were closely related to horses. Horses were pretty much the ones in control if they were ever spooked. If that happened with a pegasus… in the air… "Let's not get carried away," Anali said with a weak smile.

"Oh, come on," her friend argued. "You'll love it, cross my heart and-"

"I think I'll pass, thanks."

"Okay," Sumia said mounding Rosella. "But don't think I'm going to let this drop."

For some reason, Anali felt the overwhelming urge to run and hide. By the end of the day they were finally out of Regna Ferox, and out of the snowy weather. However, they came across a small pack of five Risen a few miles out of Ferox. Anali had Sumia circle the area on Rosella to draw out any more hiding in the shadows. Then had Stalh, Sully, and Frederick corner them against the Galadriel river. Anali was quick to note that Risen floated in water, but they couldn't very well swim. The Risen were not that difficult to deal with. But, given that the Risen threw them off schedule, Chrom announced that they would set up camp early.

After camp was set up, everyone was out doing their business. Vaike and Lon'qu may had become instant best friends through training together. Sully would have been included had Lon'qu not stayed as far away from her as possible. And Donnel was on kitchen duty that night, and the first thing he did was set up a few traps and snares.

Sumia scurried around the campsite, searching for Chrom. Anali had come to her asking for help, as she couldn't find him. The two of them were supposed to be having a brief meeting to discuss a safe return route. After all, it wasn't just Risen they had to worry about.

But they both worked too hard.

Ever since the Farfort, Anali spent most of her free time reading up on tactics, and working on the little game she played with Virion before testing them out on the Shepherds themselves. And then she would work on more. There were books stacked beside her bed back at the garrison. And it would not have surprised Sumia in the least if it turned out there were bits of paper in Anali's coat pockets.

And then there was Chrom. As Ylisse's prince, he had his duties both on and off the battle field. Odds were, as soon as they returned to Ylisstol he would have another counsel meeting to inform them of the alliance, and discuss their next move. Even then, he was charged with keeping the people safe from bandits, and now the Risen, as well as being the captain of an entire militia.

Well, despite her mother hen tendencies, this was important. Bandits could be just as frightening as Risen after all. So, she was going to help Anali find Chrom. If he wasn't in his tent, then there were two likely places Sumia could think to find him. And since he wasn't on the training field…

She poked her head into the weapons tent; just as she predicted the captain was there. "Found you!" Sumia beamed as she walked into the tent.

Chrom looked over his shoulder, and smiled slightly at the sight of the Pegasus Knight. "Sumia," he said with a slight nod of acknowledgement. "Did you need something?"

"Um, no, not really," Sumia said, instinctually slipping a lock of hair behind her ear. "Anali was just looking for you."

"Oh, right, the strategy meeting!" Chrom brought a hand to his forehead. He mentally cursed himself. Bringing his hand down, Chrom chuckled to himself as he walked up towards the exit. "Anali sure does love to-"

Sumia nearly leapt out of her skin. Chrom tumbled forward, catching himself on the rack of axes, at most he just landed on his knees. "Are you all right?!" Sumia gasped, dropping to her own knees to assist Chrom.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Chrom said, waving his hand lazily. Gathering his barring, he stood back onto his feet. "I just tripped on a pebble. Gods, this is embarrassing."

"It's because you're so exhausted!" Sumia chided as she stood back up. "You've been working too hard lately."

"I'm fine, Sumia," Chrom insisted. "And besides, we're all tired. Traveling for three days does that to people."

Shaking her head, Sumia crossed her arms over her chest. "You don't need to don a brave face for my sake," she said. "You carry twice the burden of anyone. It's only natural you're exhausted."

"You're kind to say so. But in truth, everyone looks to their commander for inspiration and strength. An army is only as stalwart as its leader. The instant I show weakness, we're through."

"It must be hard for you," murmured Sumia.

Avoiding Sumia's gaze, Chrom rubbed the back of his neck. This was not the sort of thing he wanted to say in front of one of his subordinates, or his friends. But here it was, all on the table. "I'll… be fine," Chrom reassured her. "And please, don't speak of this conversation to anyone. All right?"

"N-No!" Sumia blurted out, her face turning red. "O-Of course not! I would never-"

She was cut off by the sound of Chrom's laughter. "At ease, Sumia," he said. "And stop worrying so much. It'll take more than a few hard battles to bring this soldier to his knees."

"I know," the ash-haired woman replied with a bob of the head. "You're the greatest warrior I've ever… Hm… I just realized something."

"What is it?"

"You trusted me with a secret!" Sumia said beaming. She almost bounced in place as she spoke. "It's our first secret together!"

"Um… yes, I suppose it is," Chrom said, a little confused. It wasn't that huge a deal. Chrom shared secrets between other subordinates. Not all of them were his, but they were still secrets. Sumia was acting like he had just given her all the suns she would ever need for the rest of her life.

Whatever made her happy?

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed," Sumia said, placing a finger to her lips. "So long as you promise to take a nap at least."

The prince's brow arched. "What?"

"I'll just tell Anali that your meeting's been delayed."

"And if I don't agree to your terms?"

"Then I'll tell everyone the mighty Chrom was bested by a mere pebble!"

"That sounds like blackmail," Chrom said with a lopsided grin. "I suppose there's no harm in putting it off a couple of hours."

"It's so thrilling to be able to help out like this," Sumia said as she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Anyway, I'll leave you to it. Sleep tight!"

The clumsy Pegasus Knight gave him one last wave good-bye before she slipped back outside. Shaking his head, Chrom couldn't help but chuckle. It was wonderful to hear that one of his men-at-arms was able to find some levity in light of recent events.

As promised, Sumia informed Anali that Chrom was delayed for a few hours, that he was busy with Frederick. Although Anali nodded in understanding, Sumia got the feeling that Anali knew why their meeting was delayed. But she didn't say anything, just that she would be in their tent, reading one of the books Sumia lent her.

Dinner that night consisted of squirrel and rabbit meat, and a few potatoes, carrots, and radishes Donnel grew at the garrison. Anali found herself seated at the table with most of the Shepherds. Though Lon'qu opted to stay as far away from her as possible. It wasn't even the fact that she was a woman, he sat beside Stahl, who, on the other side, sat beside Miriel. He singled her out in particular.

Anali must have made a pretty good first impression with the great fig chase last night. It only ended when it did because Anali ran out of figs. Then she was scolded by Frederick.

Well, regardless of Lon'qu, Anali loved moments like this. She loved the camaraderie amongst the Shepherds. She loved sitting amongst her friends at the dining table, listening to and sharing stories. It was moments like these that made her feel like she could trust these people on the battlefield.

Perhaps that was why Anali couldn't find it in her to trust Liam. He always took his meal and ate in the tent he shared with Stahl, Virion, and Kellam. Then, when they were at the garrison, Liam usually stayed in the most recluse space in the mess hall.

Liam did not need to be attached to anyone at the hip, but it would be nice if he got to know his comrades-in-arms. He needed to trust everyone here with his life after all. Everyone here needed to trust the others to keep them safe, and trust that Anali would get them through the next battle safely. Why did Liam always have to act like he had something to hide?

If she spent too long worrying about this, Anali was sure she would sprout grey hair. Which was partially why Anali decided to wash up after dinner before heading to bed. Anali hadn't seen or heard from Chrom since Sumia told her that their meeting was postponed, even during dinner, she presumed they would discuss it briefly in the morning.

So, Anali filled up a tub with hot water, chose one of the soaps, and stripped herself of her clothes. The water was more than welcome after two days of sleeping in the frigid Ferox. She was pretty sure the snow had chilled her right to the bones, and she had slowly been warming up since they left. A nice hot bath was just what she needed.

Outside, however, Chrom had been looking all over the campsite for Anali. She just about disappeared after dinner, and no one had seen her since. But there was Lissa, who pointed out a tent she thought Anali had gone in. So, with the papers in hand, Chrom stood outside the tent. "Hey, Anali?" called Chrom. No answer. "Anali, are you in here?! I have a question about our next move tomorrow!"

"Chrom?!" he heard Anali reply. She sounded like she could have been on the other side of the tent. "Er, if you could just wait outside, I'll be out in a moment…"

"What?" Chrom asked, pushing the flap to the side so he could enter.

The first thing he noticed was how humid it was inside, even for a cool spring night. And then there was the steam that pretty much filled the whole tent. "Gods, why is it so steamy in here?" he murmured.

A scream came from the opposite end of the tent. "Ah, there you are," Chrom said with a slight smile. "I could hardly see anything through this blasted steam… Anyway, I wanted to consult with you on tomorrow's march. You see…" Chrom's voice trailed off as he stared at Anali.

She stood, stone still, and red eyes widened as she looked at him in utter horror. Her hair, which she always kept up in pigtails was currently out of its usual updo. If there was one thing peculiar about the scene, aside from Anali's horrified expression, was that she was completely naked. She had her arms crossed over her chest, and her legs crossed. Her shoulders were hunched like she was trying to make herself shrink. "Er…" Chrom's voice trailed off. "Is there any special reason why you aren't wearing any clothing?"

That one statement seemed to snap Anali out of her stupor. Did he seriously just ask why she was… How dense could a person be?! "Chrom…" Anali growled out. Her face was beginning to turn beat red out of both embarrassment and anger. "Instead of just standing there like some slack-jawed village idiot YOU COULD WAIT OUTSIDE LIKE I ASKED!"

Chrom stood for a moment, confused. All he did was just stumble upon Anali while she was… _Oh. _"Oh gods, I'm so sorry!" Chrom blurted out, immediately covering his eyes. Gods, was there a hole he could go bury himself in? "I didn't mean to- That is to say-"

_"GET OUT!" _screamed Anali.

"R-Right!" stuttered Chrom. "Absolutely! Straightaway! I'll, er, be waiting for you."

Chrom felt like he could have melted a block of ice with just the blush on his face alone. Gods, how could he be so stupid? What Anali must have thought of him now.

Anali stomped out of the bathing tent minutes later with little effort put into drying herself. Her skin was still damp, and her hair was still dripping wet. She did not bother to put on her bands to cover the mark on her hand, her coat, or even her boots. No, Anali just stomped up into Chrom's tent, and drew the flap back. "All right, you!" she seethed. "What sort of idiot blunders straight into the women's bathing tent?!"

The blue haired prince still carried a blush on his cheeks, and a pleading look in his eye, though he was hesitant to look straight at her. "I'm sorry!" he apologized all too quickly. "Very, very sorry! I didn't realize where we were, I swear it. I had no intention of peeping!"

The strange thing was how quickly Anali found her anger dissipate into simple annoyance. This prince was surprisingly dense, but he was also sincere. With big pleading eyes Chrom looked more like a little boy afraid of being scolded, than a warrior prince leading the countries military. It just reminded Anali how easily she forgot that he was the scion of the Ylissean royal line. He wasn't some dashing prince in Sumia's books, he was just Chrom.

And just Chrom could be a huge dolt at times. This blunder was a prime example.

"Just… fine. Apology accepted," Anali said, trying not to sound too irritated. Just because he was forgiven did not mean she had to like the situation. "Now what was so damned important?"

"Oh, er," Chrom placed the sheets down on the small table by his lantern. "I was just hoping you could offer some advice on tomorrow's route?"

"Okay. What are our options?"

"Well, according to this map," Chrom said, flattening the map out further. He started to trace a couple of routes out. "One route is this steep trail through the hills. Or we could circle the hills and follow the main road. I imagine either would work but wanted to see if you had a preference."

Chrom was right, either route would work, however, circling around the hills would have taken less time. And going _through_ them would have meant more work. "I'd say we take the path through the hills," Anali said, tracing out the path on the map. "Yes, the main road would be easier, but we'd be more exposed if we encountered foes."

"Right," Chrom rolled the map back up. "That's what I was thinking. Thank you for the advice. And, er…"

His face began to turn red again. Slowly, Chrom started to walk back towards the door. "That's uh… that's it, I guess," he said, using his free hand to talk with him until he gave Anali a small, awkward wave. "Bye."

"Bye," Anali said with a small, amused smile. Did Chrom forget that this was _his_ tent, and that Anali should be the one leaving?

"And Anali?" Chrom asked, coming to an abrupt halt just before the door. "I'm really sorry about the bath thing. I honestly didn't mean to catch you like that."

"It's fine," Anali said, trying to be firm, but sweet. She held a hand up for further emphasis. "Let's forget about it and move on."

"Er, right," Chrom said, his face still red. "Good idea. I'll catch you later?" His pupils shrunk when he realized his pour choice of words. "Argh, no! I mean, I'll _see _you later!"

No, no! That was a bad choice, too!

Anali tried to suppress her smile. Chrom's discomfort was so funny, it was almost cute. He really had no idea how to talk to women, did he? Or at least, Chrom did not know how to let bygone's be bygone. Anali wasn't angry at him anymore, she understood that Chrom did not walk in on her on purpose. He was no Prince Charming, but it was not in his character to do something like that intentionally.

With this in mind, Anali really should not say what she was about to. But she simply could not resist. "Are you still having trouble seeing me as a lady, now?" she asked.

That was enough to finally send Chrom out of the tent with an uncharacteristic, high-pitched whine. Anali realized she probably shouldn't have said that, and would apologize for that the minute she saw him again. When she did in the morning, Chrom simply said they should call it even, his face was still red.

Another day of traveling went by with Anali riding with Liam. She felt strangely cold when they set up camp. Throughout the next few hours, Anali heard whispers about the Shepherd's ghost. The ghost would apparently follow them from the garrison, and went wherever they went. What utter nonsense!

The next day, they finally returned to Ylisstol. Emmeryn greeted her brother and sister with a warm embrace for each, and an added gesture of affection for Lissa. Chrom, Frederick, and Lissa would spend the next hour or so recounting the events at the borders, the tournament, and, most importantly, the alliance made between Ylisse and Regna Ferox.

Lon'qu was shown around the garrison by Vaike, who was 'volunteered' by Lissa. Neither one seemed to mind, but Lon'qu looked like he was more interested in the training yard. When Anali returned to her room, she found that Elaine was not there, probably going about her daily duties. She could not help but sigh, she was able to unpack without the young Cleric begging to know what happened.

Anali placed her books back in their usual place by her bunk, her tactical notes were placed under her bed with her ocarina. She smiled slightly at the sight of the instrument, and played a few random notes before she placed it back. With her dirty clothes set aside with the rest of the laundry she needed to do, Anali deemed herself more or less done. Seated on her bed, Anali unsheathed her broken sword. She was going to need a new one, sooner rather than later.

She should still have enough time to go to the blacksmith if she left now. So, Anali left a brief note for Sumia, who was currently in the stable with Rosella, helping her settle into her new home, and Elaine. It was simple and straightforward, Anali was going out, and she hoped to be back before dark.

The blacksmith, a man called Benny, was a bit intimidating at first. Tall and muscular, with a bushy, graying beard, and scars covering his hands. But he enjoyed a good joke with a drink as much as the next man. He was more than willing to forge Anali a new, sturdier, sword. They went over the design and payment. The mental picture Benny painted for her made Anali excited to see the finished product.

Benny wouldn't have her sword done for another three and a-half weeks, as he had another project a head of hers. So Anali was stuck with a training sword. Things remained the same, Anali trained with Stahl, Kellam, Donnel and now Vaike, she had a few rematches with Virion in the library, and she even started to work on her riding with Sumia.

Anali quickly returned her game board and pieces to her room after another lost match against Virion. He left to philander with Miriel, who had asked him to fetch her notes back in her room. When Anali set foot into her room, she was met with Sumia, who nearly shoved a leather bag into her face, and beamed, "Ta-da!"

Anali's heart had nearly jumped out of her chest, but still, she took the bag from Sumia, to study it. It was beautifully made, sturdy, and looked like it must have cost a fortune. "What's this?" she asked Sumia.

"It's for Chrom," Sumia replied; she nearly bounced in place as she spoke.

For Chrom? Anali could hardly see him keeping this on him during a march. In fact, she worried that it would collect dust in his room, not out of malicious intent, but because he already had a few bags to carry his belongings. Well, that and Anali did not doubt that Frederick carried what Chrom forgot for him.

"Oh," Anali said as she handed the bag back to Sumia. "What's the occasion?"

"His birthday, of course!"

"What?" Anali asked dumbly.

"What?" her friend repeated. "No one told you?" She placed the bag onto her bed. "You still have until the twenty-seventh. On the royal's birthday a ball is held for them. And Chrom always invites the Shepherds. Oh! We could fix up the dress you bought! _See_, I told you it was good to know you have it!"

"Y-yeah, I guess," Anali said, tying her pouch of money onto her belt. "But can it wait 'till tomorrow? I need to go to market." She brisked past Sumia with a hastily added, "Won't be long."

In the market place, Anali marched with her thoughts running a mile a minute. The twenty-seventh; Anali had twenty days to find a gift for Chrom, and prepare her dress. The damn thing was far too simple for a royal ball. But what could she give him that he did not already have?

Anali's breath caught in her throat as she felt something bump into her. "Billie, watch were you're going," a woman said, scolding her daughter. She flashed Anali a weak smile. "I'm sorry, ma'am."

"It's fine," Anali smiled back.

The woman lead Billie away by her hand. "Mama," said Billie. "Can we get a few honey buns before we go home?"

"We'll see," her mother replied.

Anali watched the mother and daughter, biting her lip as she felt a pang in her chest. The twenty-seventh also meant that it would have been a little over two months since she first met Chrom, having been found on the twentieth of March. And Anali still had no idea what happened before, or what happened to her family.

Everyone had a family, didn't they? So, someone had to be missing her. Anali had to belong somewhere.

She remembered, much to her embarrassment, the little game she played with the others last night after dinner. With an empty mead bottle (courtesy of Khan Flavia) someone would spin it around the table, and whomever the nose pointed to had to reveal something personal. An embarrassing secret, their dream, anything. Though, what you had to tell depended on who spun the bottle, who was the last person that revealed their secret.

The game had attracted a bit of attention, which included Lissa and Miriel, even Liam at least listened to the conversations. When the bottle landed on Anali, Stahl had asked what Anali's dream was. She immediately answered, "To be a great tactician."

"Ah, _what_?" Sully asked her in disbelief. She pointed a finger at her, and said, "Try again, but this time tell us something you haven't accomplished."

Anali's face turned red, although, she wasn't quite sure if it was because she had to reveal something else, or because Sully already considered her a great tactician. Anali refused to meet with anyone's glance as she fiddled with her fingers under the table. "To…" her voice trailed off, and her heart thumped loudly in her chest. "To get married… and have children…"

Sully gave her a smile that clearly said, 'now that's more like it,' while Sumia brought her hands together in front of her mouth, smiling. Lissa had let out a dreamy, 'Ahh!' It almost turned ugly when Vaike said with a laugh, "Man, you're such a girl!"

"Hey!" Lissa and Sully shouted back.

Anali wasn't quite sure why it embarrassed her so much, what was wrong with the idea of marriage? If her reaction to Vaike's jape meant anything, even Sully must have thought about it once or twice. However, Anali had no way of knowing if it was something she wanted before she lost her memory or not. When she thought about it today, Anali reasoned that she wanted a husband and children one day because she could not remember her own mother and father, or even if she had siblings.

Still, it would have been nice to have a happily ever after, with little ones running around and keeping her busy. But then it all went back to what Anali told Sumia that day two months ago. Anali had no memory of herself before meeting the Exalts brother and sister. What man would want to marry a woman with no past? What future could a woman with no past actually have?

"How much farther is Benny's?" Anali asked herself under her breath. "I'm starting to depress myself."

Thankfully, the blacksmith's was not that much farther. Benny seemed all too proud of his own work. Her new sword had a bit of a rapier feel to it. A sturdy blade with a white colored hilt. The guard circled between where the blade ended, and the hilt began. Four small, metal rods in an X formation kept the guard in place. On the guard were two blue; the stones were lined with purple metal. "It's gorgeous!" Anali said, giving it a swish through the air. It seemed like a shame to use it in battle.

"Isn't it?" Benny boastfully asked. "And, it will last, unlike that flimsy piece of garbage you had. Sikanda will serve you well."

"Sikanda?" Anali repeated.

"A good sword needs a good name. I hear in Plegia 'sikanda' means something along the line of 'defender.'"

Anali grinned a lopsided grin. Sikanda it was. She happily paid Benny all the sun's he wanted for such a beautiful sword.

Ten days past, and Anali still could not think of a gift for Chrom. Chrom hardly seemed like the person who needed a gift from everyone but… It seemed wrong for Anali personally not to give him something. He had given her so much, a form of purpose, a place to call home; she hated that she couldn't hope to repay him. Anali was in a debt beyond repaying.

Her dress was quickly taken care of. With a few suggestions from Sumia and Elaine, her plane and simple dress had some 'oomph' to it. But it still looked pretty simple. "You say that like it's a bad thing," Sumia said, playfully pushing her to the side.

In the mess hall Anali had her notes in front of her, with a few things written and crossed out on the sheet. Anali really wanted to hit herself for even thinking of giving Chrom a sword. Yes, he clearly needed a new sword when he owned Ylisse's most treasured sword!

"Ah!" she groaned.

Holding her head in her hands, Anali hardly noticed Stahl walk by with a small loaf of bread in his hands. "Heya, Anali," he greeted, which nearly caused her to jump. He looked over her shoulder, and studied the sheet in front of her. "You thinking up a birthday present for old man Chrom?"

"I'd hardly call twenty 'old,' Stahl," Anali replied, lowering her hands as she spoke. Actually, wasn't Stahl a year older than Chrom? "But, yes, and I'm at a loss of ideas. Buying for anyone would have been hard enough, but I'd be buying for royalty. Do I go for expensive? I'm sure all the high class would have taken care of that, and I'm sure Chrom wouldn't accept if I presented him with something so stupidly expensive."

"Yeah, cheap is good," Stahl took a seat beside Anali and tore of a bit of his bread. "I was actually thinking of brewing up a special concoction for him."

Anali's brow perked when she heard this. She had almost forgotten that Stahl dabbled in a bit of apothecary. The salve he had given her had really helped her hands on more than one occasion. "Homemade gifts are always the best," Anali said with a slight smile. "Now if only I possessed such a talent."

"_Actually_," Stahl bit off another bite. "The ingredients are quite costly, so…"

Her brow perked up again. Was Stahl suggesting what she thought he was suggesting? "Perhaps… _I_ could pitch in?" she suggested.

"Yes, exactly!" Stahl said, with a snap of the fingers and a wink. "Then the present could be from both of us."

"Okay!" Anali said with a small smile. It was not quite what she had in mind, but a concoction could be much more useful than the other silly ideas she came up with.

* * *

Chrom's twentieth year began with a presentation of gifts from the Shepherds. A leather bag from Sumia. Polish for his sword from Sully. A concoction from Stahl and Anali. A berry tart from Kellam and Donnel. A bow and arrows from Virion, Chrom had been meaning to give archery a try, and the like. The day was spent finishing the preparations for the ball that evening. The decorations, the food, the music, the works.

That afternoon Chrom studied himself in the full-length mirror. The suit was made for occasions such as this. The top was blue, with a few gold accents, not quite as baggy as his usual garb, but trailed half-way down his thighs. Thank goodness for his belt. The cape he wore was somewhat identical to the one he usually wore. Just not as beaten up. He still carried the Falchion on his person, not even his own birthday ball would tear him away from it.

The ball always seemed a bit superfluous, Chrom was quite kicking and screaming about it when he was younger. As he got older, he made it painfully obvious that he did not enjoy it anymore than he did as a child. But Emmeryn would always place her hand on his shoulder, give him the smile that told him she thought the same way he did, and kindly say, "The people do love their prince."

It was probably this reason why Chrom and Lissa's birthdays where held outside in Ylisstol, with the people. This was not the case with Emmeryn, who was born in December, when it was too cold to celebrate outside like this, but the palace was still open to the people. It was these days where Frederick and Phila worked the hardest, especially now.

But this year, the people needed this.

The cooks had been planning this evening for weeks, and had been cooking nonstop for days. An all-you-can-eat open to the people featuring various vegetables, fruits, meats (including his favorite, bear meat), and sweets laid out on the table besides several kegs of drinks both alcoholic, and nonalcoholic. Musicians were placed at the heart of the party on a small podium.

Chrom spent the first forty-five minutes or so greeting and thanking the Dukes and Duchesses and their families, and a few citizens. There was one particularly cute moment when the shoemakers young daughter tried to hide herself behind her mother's skirt, with her wide eyes still peeking out in awe of the prince.

Finally, he was able to sneak away from the crowd to the food table, desperate to silence his rumbling stomach and quench his thirst. Chrom could easily imagine Frederick's face when he saw the bear meat option. It was no secret that the knight had a distain for gamey meat. But Chrom always loved it.

"Well, this is a first," he heard behind him.

Turning around, with a plate of bear meat still in his hand, Chrom found Emmeryn standing behind him. She had on a small, playful smile. Her clothes carried a subtle difference to what she usually wore. Her white dress was longer, and sleeveless, but one would have a difficult time seeing that over her green and yellow Sage robes.

"What's a first?" he asked.

"I do believe this is the first year you haven't tried to get out of your own party," Emmeryn explained.

Chrom nearly stiffened when he heard this. Yes, he supposed it was pretty much a birthday tradition. He quickly took a bite off his plate and answered, "I think the people need this."

Emmeryns smile widened. Yes, they did. With the threat of war with Plegia and the threat of Risen, everyone needed a reason to smile. Even now, they danced, they made merry, the dangers and threats of war were not an issue tonight.

On the dance floor was their sister, her hair hanging loose, her gold diadem was nestled safely on her head. She wore a loose yellow dress that was easy to move in. At the moment, she was dancing, hand in hand with Anali, who was struggling to keep up. Even so, the girls were red in the face from laughing.

The song ended, and the party-goers gave the musicians a round of applause. Lissa had asked Anali for another dance, but, panting, she kindly declined.

Anali hurried to the beverages and prepared herself a drink. Her face was still a little red, and her lips were painted a dark shade of pink. There was a smoky look around her eyes, and her hair, which she wore down, carried a slight shine to it. There was a wilting white flower weaved in to one of the tendrils, that must have looked nicer when it was first put in. Her dress was pale blue, with a sheer collar. Her sleeves, also sheer, were detachable, with a cut that went to the crease of her elbow. Then there were the white bands on her wrists that hid her mark from the people.

Lowering her glass from her mouth, Anali began to blush when she saw Emmeryn and Chrom watching her. "Please tell me you weren't watching that last dance?" she asked.

"We could say we didn't if you want," Emmeryn said kindly. She gave Anali a soft, kind smile. "But I must say, Anali, you look quite-"

"Beautiful," Chrom finished breathily, much to his surprise. Both Chrom, and Anali turned red in the face, as the prince slapped one hand over his mouth. Why did he say that out loud?!

"T-thank you," Anali said, shifting a tendril of hair behind her ear. Her face felt so warm right now. "And you look quite dashing yourself."

Emmeryn placed a hand over her mouth to keep herself from laughing. On the podium, the musicians began to file off to make room for a lone performer. "Chrom," Emmeryn said with a slight hint of mocking disapproval. "You are not about to complement a lady and not ask her to dance, are you?"

"What?" Chrom's face turned red again. Now Anali's hands were on either side of her face hoping to cover her deepening blush. "E-Emm…"

"_Well_…" Emmeryn encouraged.

She was not going to let this go, was she? Quickly, Chrom placed his plate back on the table, and folded one arm behind his back, while he offered the other to Anali. "May I have this dance?"

Anali, hands still cupping her face, stared at him with wide eyes. She wanted to run away and hide, that much was clear. But still, she nodded. "Only because it's your birthday," she said quickly.

The musician on stage was a beauty. Tall, with milky skin, and delicate facial features. Her beautiful red hair was done up in a half updo. Her dress was shimmering light lavender, and looked like she spared no expense. It lead Anali to believe she was a traveling performer of some sort. What was a surprise though, was that the woman was playing the harp.

"I don't think I've danced like this before," Anali said quickly under her breath.

"Just follow my lead," Chrom said, placing one hand on her waist. He took her hand into his free one, and added, "We had a term on dance in that fancy-shmancy school of mine."

Anali had to laugh, her nerves leaving her for a brief moment. The harpist began playing, it started as a soft, playful melody. Leading her in the dance, Chrom was merciful enough to talk her through it. "Keep your eyes on me," he said loud enough for Anali to hear as they started to do a simple box step. "The man leads, so you don't have to worry about too much. There's too many people around us to do anything grandiose without knocking heads. And… here we go."

"Wha-?"

Unexpectedly, he removed his hand from Anali's waist to twirl her around once. Once she was facing Chrom again, he put his hand back on her waist and they started to travel around the dance floor. They still did the box step but they were no longer just staying in one place.

Chrom twirled Anali around again. She felt the blush on her face, there was a flutter in her chest. Anali could feel the muscle in Chrom's arms and the warmth in his hands. She suddenly couldn't imagine anyone but Chrom finding her that day, nor did Anali want anyone else to find her.

"Ow!" Anali hissed, looking down at her feet.

"Sorry," Chrom said quickly.

Pausing for a moment, Anali lifted her foot and wiggled her toes, trying to rid herself of the ache. Almost as soon as Anali put her foot down Chrom dragged her a few paces down the floor to prevent them from bumping into another set of dancers. He was able to get them back into the swing of things.

And it wasn't long before Anali repaired Chrom the favor and ended up stepping on his foot. He was just able shake if off faster than Anali was.

All and all, it was nice, it was like the two of them had just entered their own little world where their troubles no longer mattered. Chrom couldn't help but notice how Anali's hand felt perfect in his hand. There was a moment where he just did not want this dance to end, no matter how many times she stepped on him.

Emmeryn stood just outside the dance floor with her hands held against her abdomen. She had on a warm smile as she watched Chrom and Anali on the dance floor, with all their little awkward steps and their more graceful ones. Emmeryn did not need the ability of foresight to know where this was going, with or without her little push it was just a matter of time.

Miriel watched the dancers on the floor in front of her with a glass of red wine in her hand. She had put some effort into dressing herself up nicely for the occasion, but her wide rimmed hat remained firmly on her head. Dancing never was and never will be a skill Miriel would ever need, but she did find it amusing to see the dancers stumble upon their partner. And Prince Chrom and Anali were a goldmine.

"Heya, Miriel!" Vaike greeted, taking a seat beside her. "So you've been watching me fight or what?"

"Indeed," Miriel adjusted her glasses. Sure enough, ever since their conversation in Regna Ferox, Miriel found the time to watch Vaike train, usually with a sparring partner. "I observed that your battle shouts enhanced the effectiveness of your blows. Often the foe would briefly let down his guard, granting you a momentary opening. I had not realized the impact of war cries could have on the psychology of an enemy."

"Yeah, yeah," Vaike said, tilting his head back in his chair. "But what about me? What about the Vaike?"

"I observed the details of your moves, but not from the perspective of the foe," the Mage explained with her finger erect. "Perhaps an analogy would be helpful here… So if we were to assume that you are a planet, and the enemy is the sun-"

"Hey, wait, I wanna be the sun!"

"But the sun does not travel around planets. Rather, planets spin around the sun. Or so it was postulated in my mother's book. It has yet to be proven…"

"You sure it's not your head spinnin'?" Vaike asked, running a hand through his hair. "I don't see this ground going anyplace."

"Alas, we cannot sense this motion," sighed Miriel. "Making the theory intuitively difficult."

"All right, sure," Vaike sat himself upright again. "The ground's spinnin'. Just like when I was swinging my weapon, yeah?"

"Yes," nodded Miriel. "That generates the centripetal force we discussed the other day. I'm glad we had this conversation. It has helped clarify my thoughts on the subject. Would you mind terribly if we continued our discussions? For research purposes?"

"You mean chat as friends?" Vaike asked for clarification. "Well, sure. As we have… so much in common?"

It was not that Vaike minded talking to Miriel, especially if she was curious about his battle techniques. But, it would have been better if he could understand half the stuff this woman said.

Frederick would not allow himself the pleasure of dressing casually. With Plegian bandits and Risen as a constant threat, one could not let their guard down during an event such as this. He relaxed a little when Sumia approached him with a smile, and a drink. "I'll be happy to get you a plate if you want anything," she said, handing him the glass.

"No need, Milady," Frederick smiled at her. "You've given me all I need. I wouldn't want to take you away from enjoying your evening."

"Oh, you're not taking me away from anything," Sumia reassured him. "I've told you before, that I want to help anyway I can. Besides, you were looking a bit lonely on your own. Come on, I can be your second set of eyes!"

Frederick could not help but smile as he drained the glass of its contents. If there was something he had to admire about Sumia, it was her sheer sincerity. When she said she wanted to help, Frederick believed it. It was because she genuinely wanted to help, not out of obligation, or because she was ordered to.

A part of Frederick envied the man who married her.

* * *

**Authors Note: **Ship tease!

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight  
The Exalt and the King**

It finally happened, and, sadly, it was Anali's idea. She finally took up Sumia's offer to ride her pegasus with her.

A few days after the big birthday bash, an urgent message came from Woodham. Their neighboring village, Thorin, while claiming to be a peace-loving village was barricading their doors. They were refusing to let travelers take shelter, all because a horde of Risen lurked outside.

Today was a case of bad luck for a few gatherers from Woodham. The Risen arrived, blocking their path back to their own village. Naturally they sought shelter in Thorin, but were denied access. So their mission went from sorting things out with Thorin, to protecting the villagers.

Thus came Anali's brilliant idea to use Sumia to survey the area for any straggling Risen. But Risen were, apparently not limited to ground classes, they came in Pegasus Knights and archers. So, Anali, heart pounding in her chest, suggested that she ride with Sumia to keep her safe from the archers.

On the ground, the others did what they could to protect the Woodham villagers from Risen. Lissa had her staff out, healing the village men, while Lon'qu and Donnel kept them safe. Having Lon'qu protect Lissa was more Chrom's idea than it was Anali's, but she had to agree to it. Lissa was essentially weaponless, and Lon'qu was Khan Basilio's former champion for a reason. Donnel, on the other hand, while he really did have a great respect for the royal family, wanted to keep the men of Woodham safe. They may not have been his kinsmen, but he had been in their shoes not too long ago.

The boy, however, had improved quite considerably since he was first brought into the Shepherds. He had taken Stahl's advice and watched his comrades-in-arms whenever they were in battle, or training, and Donnel even stole a peek whenever he worked on his gardening. Donny soaked it all up like a sponge, and found away to use what he observed in battle. He knew what to do with his lance now when compared to the siege of the Farfort.

His control, and aim were much, much better. Add his natural speed Donnel was a good choice to have team up with Lon'qu to protect Lissa. At least with another male at his side, there was less of a chance Lon'qu would lose his head after watching his female charge for all of fifteen minutes.

Yelping, Anali grabbed onto Sumia's waist as Rosella picked up in speed. Sumia drove her lance into the solar plexus of a Risen Pegasus Knight, then proceeded to kick the corpse off. Anali's spell struck the Risen Pegasus, the beast, and rider fell, taking out a swordsman below them.

As demure as Sumia could be, she did get a wee bit scary on the battlefield, as Anali was just learning. Perhaps, it was just apart of the training, or even just the fact that they were so far in the air that it was unavoidable. But something just rubbed Anali the wrong way after seeing Sumia and Rosella pick up speed, ram the tip of her lance right through the Risen, then kick them off so that they fell to the earth below. If it was anything but a Risen, it would have been enough to kill them twice.

"Anali," Sumia said, pulling on the reins. "There's a Risen right under us, and it's heading for the villagers. Can your magic reach it?"

"Way ahead of you," Anali said with her tome open. She threw her hand downward, the Risen was blasted off their feet. The corpse skin sizzled as smoke emitted from its person.

The last of the Risen were taken care of with a dual effort from Chrom and Vaike. Minutes of silence passed as the Shepherds regrouped, and the villagers waited to see if any more Risen would appear. They let out a collective sigh when the worse never came to pass.

Chrom and Frederick were the only ones who entered Thorin, and the village elder, a skinny man with a grey mustache, met them a few blocks in. "Prince Chrom!" the elder greeted with such bravado a that would have been wonderful to hear, had the village not ignored the men of Woodham outside. "Always welcome here. Please, is there anything we can do for you?"

"I fear we're not here for idle chitchat," Frederick replied, folding his arms behind his back.

"Agreed," Chrom added. He stared straight at the village elder, and said, while trying to keep himself from losing his temper, "There were refugees from your neighboring village in the middle of a Risen attack. Yet you turned them away from shelter. _Why?_"

"We're a peaceful town, sir," the elder said, his voice was just as calm and even as Chrom's was. "We have no weapons, no soldiers, nor any want for them. We survive by barring our gates to those who might bring us harm - friend or foe. Harsh as it may be, I can't have my people dying on account of other folks' problems-"

"You do understand that this 'problem' isn't just going away?" Chrom cut off the elder. "We need a joint effort if things are going to get better."

"Oh, I do agree, Milord," nodded the elder. "And we are doing our part, by keeping our village safe."

Keeping their village safe, or keeping their _hides_ safe? With a hand on his shoulder, and a look from Frederick, Chrom knew it was a better idea to just leave now before it escalated into something that got way out of hand.

So, the Shepherds escorted the villagers back to Woodham just to be sure they would not be attacked again. As thanks they were given nearly three dozen bottles of pumpkin soup and just as many rolls for the journey back to Ylisstol.

Anali rode home with Donnel; her horse riding improved within the past few weeks. However, now, Anali feared Sumia would start asking Anali if she wanted to learn to ride a pegasus. The experience was quite the ride, though Anali did not exactly have the chance to enjoy it. And there was the fear of falling whenever Sumia took off for an attack. Maybe when they made it back to Ylisstol, where things would be much calmer, Anali could try it again.

"Miss. Anali?" Donnel spoke up from behind her.

"Huh, what?" she asked coming right out of her stupor. "I'm sorry, did you say something, Donny?"

"Not exactly," said the village boy. "Yet. But uh, I've been meanin' to ask yeh somethin'."

"Let's see if I can answer."

"Well, I know you can't remember, but I was wonderin' if you knew anything' about basic magic. Yah know, like how beginners… begin."

Anali's face twisted as she thought about it. If Anali's status as an amnesiac was supposed to be a secret, it was the Shepherds worst kept secret. Even the councilmen knew of the amnesiac Plegian Chrom made into his tactician. Heck, Anali would not have been surprised if even Lon'qu knew about it by now.

So, no, Anali would not be able to tell Donnel about her experience learning basic magic. She wasn't even completely sure how one begins to learn magic, it was just something that always came to her. "What brought this up?" she asked.

"Nuthin' really," shrugged Donnel. "Just tryin' to broaden my horizons, I s'ppose. Like if ya need another mage, or swordsman or an archer, I wanna be able to help."

A small smile tugged at Anali's lips. Donnel would never have to worry about earning his keep. He was a natural hard worker, and a genuinely nice guy. "Well, from my own experience and studies," Anali said, looking on ahead. "I'd say the first thing about magic, even basic magic, is application. But, with that said, I think you're doing pretty good applying yourself as you are now. You don't need to take on every form of battle to be helpful."

"Aw, but I know I can do more."

"Oh, I'm sure you could. But, you don't need to be a one-man army. Donny, we don't want you collapsing from exhaustion in battle, or training for that matter. I don't want you to hurt yourself by taking on too much. You understand what I mean?"

"Ah think so," Donnel said, nodding behind her. "Thank yee, Miss. Anali."

Anali could feel Donnel's smile behind her. As far as country bumpkin's go, Anali felt certain that she liked them.

Early the next day they returned to Ylisstol. And, like always, Emmeryn had been waiting to greet her brother and sister with a warm embrace. Frederick explained what had happened; how some villagers of Woodham got caught in a Risen attack, unable to return to their own village, they sought refuge in Thorin, and were denied. "Oh dear," Traino said, his brow arched so deeply it highlighted the wrinkles in his face. "You don't suppose the village will continue to bar its gates to refugees if this happens again?"

Chrom shook his head. "As long as they view the Risen as someone else's problem, then yes."

"They claim to love peace," Frederick added ruefully. "Yet the uneasy peace found behind a barricade is nothing I'd want. Peace begins when the fighting is over and the barricades come down. I pray they can see the truth of that before it's too late…"

"Well said, Frederick," Emmeryn said; her eyes cast downward onto the floor.

"Emm, isn't there anything you can do?" Lissa asked; she looked up at her sister with big, pleading eyes. "Those villagers could have died if we didn't get there in time. Can we pass a law allowing refuge to those seeking?"

"But it is not a genuine kindness, Lissa," replied Emmeryn. "True peace is not something to be forced upon."

"Your Grace!" Phila shouted upon entering the room. Sliding to a stop, she looked a little flustered, and her eyes were filled with urgency. "M-Milord! Forgive me, but I bring alarming news!"

The Exalt placed a hand on Phila's shoulder. "Slow down, please! What's happened?"

"Plegian soldiers have been sighted inside our southwest border. They attacked Azog village in Themis and abducted the duke's daughter."

Lissa's face paled upon hearing this. Her eyes widened, and, for a moment, Phila thought Lissa was about to start crying. "But that's Maribelle!" she exclaimed. Lissa grabbed Chrom by the arm, looking up at him with pleading eyes. "Chrom, we have to do something!"

"There's more," Phila said wearily. "King Gangrel claims Lady Maribelle invaded his country. He demands we pay reparations for this 'insult.'"

Squeezing his eyes shut, Traino removed his glasses then pinched the bridge of his nose. "I do not believe a word spoken by King Gangrel no more than the next man," the hierarch said as he put his glasses back into place. "And this is a thinly veiled ploy to ignite the war he so wants."

"As I am fully aware of, Traino," Emmeryn replied with a tone lacking any emotion. "Which is why we must keep our wits about us."

"We should put a sword in his gut and be done with it!" Chrom snapped as he slashed one hand through the air as he spoke. "The Mad King has been trying to provoke war with Ylisse for years! He won't stop until he drags this whole continent to hell with him!"

"I agree with the prince, Your Grace," said Phila. "We must demonstrate to Plegia that such actions have consequences."

"I understand your feelings, Chrom," Emmeryn said with her eyes cast downward. "I truly do. But if we give him the war he wants, then we lose, no matter what the outcome. Our last conflict nearly ruined the haildom. It left Ylisseans homeless and starving."

Emmeryn lowered her head, the thought of forcing her people through such an ordeal a second time was enough to make her feel ill. In some ways Ylisse was still recovering from the last time they marched into such a conflict. And there were ugly scars that would never fully heal. "We cannot repeat that mistake," Emmeryn said lifting her head up. "I will offer parley with King Gangrel."

"Emm, no! You can't!" Lissa exclaimed.

"Please, reconsider, Your Grace," Phila encouraged, her face had turned pale at the Exalts words. "He cannot be trusted to act in good faith!"

"So either we choose to march to war or leave Lady Maribelle to die?" Emmeryn asked her in return. "No. I will not accept that."

Slowly, Phila's face softened, but the worry in her eyes remained. "Forgive me, Your Grace. I spoke out of turn. I know you will stand always by your principles. Pray, allow the Pegasus Knights to accompany you, though."

"Permit me to accompany you, as well," Traino said, readjusting his glasses again. "If only to help me sleep at night."

"I'm going too," Chrom spoke up. "Someone has to save you from your good intentions."

"Me too!" Lissa said raising one hand into the air. "I want to be there for you and Maribelle!"

Emmeryn smiled softly. "As you wish," she said. "Thank you all. Your strength will be mine."

* * *

Anali fought back a yawn as she followed behind Chrom and Lissa along the garrison grounds. She had been informed about the situation at hand; Anali worried about Maribelle's well-being, though the blonde did not seem entirely fond of her. She knew how close Lissa was to Maribelle, having last seen her at Chrom's birthday ball (though Anali did not exactly speak to her). And then there was Lissa, who worried for both her friend and her sister.

They were leaving early into the night as to reach the western mountains to the border pass by mid-morning. So, as tired as Anali was, she was going to have to be prepared for whatever could go wrong. "Captain!" shouted a voice belonging to a young male. "I'm all packed! When do we leave?!"

The three of them turned around to find Ricken standing behind them with a rucksack over his shoulder, a broad smile on his face, and his chest puffed out in pride. "How did you…?" Chrom's voice trailed off before he shook his head. "Go back inside. You're not old enough for this mission."

"But, Captain!" Ricken argued, his chest deflated. "You know my skill with magic! You know I can handle myself!"

"I'd feel safer with your magic here, protecting the garrison. All right?" Chrom told him. He urged Lissa and Anali to go on. "We're off, then. Be good, Ricken."

Anali could not help but bite the inside of her cheek as her brow arched. Ricken was the youngest member in the garrison, and Anali had yet to see him in battle. But, from what she understood, if one wanted to join the Shepherds they needed to be fifteen years or older first and foremost. Ricken had just turned fifteen a few days before Chrom's own birthday. In fact, Ricken missed the big bash due to visiting his family. But even Anali found it easy to think the boy was younger than he really was, as Ricken seemed to be a bit of a late bloomer.

The young mage was left alone as the Shepherds, Phila, Traino, and Emmeryn left. 'Be good,' how old was he, _nine_? There was no reason why Ricken could not go along, he was of minimal age now, and his magic was nearly as good as Miriel's.

A small catlike grin played on Ricken's lips. Yeah, why not? Why not show them 'how good' he could be.

* * *

Due to the urgency of this particular mission, they marched out all through the night. There were many Shepherds who were still worn out and tired from their last mission, but no one complained.

Anali rode with Sumia on the back of her Pegasus as they traveled. She found it much more enjoyable this time around then the battle outside of Thorin. The cool wind against her face made it difficult for Anali to doze off, and come dawn, Anali felt like they were trying to chase the sun.

They reached the border pass by mid to late morning; waiting there was a tall man with curly red hair, his tan skin looked more sickly and grey than anything healthy. The man was dressed in golden yellow and black, with a spiky gold circlet around his head. However, his wild collar made him look more like a court jester. After weeks of hearing about him, Anali was not quite sure what she imagined when she heard the name 'King Gangrel.'

Beside him was a tall, woman dressed in black. She had on a skull cap that covered all but the two thick, white, tendrils of hair that framed her face. She was quite endowed, with her bosom spilling out of her top. However, her face made it clear that she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

"What's this, then? The Exalt herself, in all her radiance?" Gangrel asked in a mock surprise. He held one hand up at his eye level as though shielding the sun. "I fear I must shield my eyes!"

Emmeryn dismounted her horse, and stepped forward; she kept her hands folded in front of her abdomen. "King Gangrel," she said projecting her voice, but not raising it. "I've come for the truth of this unfortunate incident between us."

"The truth?" the woman in black said with a slight sneer. "I can give you the truth."

Slightly surprised, Emmeryn looked up at the woman. She must have been someone new to Gangrel's court. However, the woman's choice of words did leave the Exalt somewhat concerned. "Perhaps milady might first share her name?"

"You may call me Aversa," the woman replied, leaning her chin into her hand slightly.

"Very well, Aversa," Emmeryn said in acknowledgement. "Is Maribelle unharmed?"

Mocking confusion, Gangrel looked over his shoulder at Aversa. "Who?" he asked. With his face lightening, he straightened himself. "Oh yes, that little blonde brat."

Snapping his fingers, two Plegian soldiers came into view with Maribelle in hand. The soldiers forced her arms behind her back as the blonde girl in pink struggled against them to the best of her ability. Two more soldiers stood behind them, trying to control Maribelle's mare. "Unhand me, you gutter-born troglodytes!" Maribelle shouted defiantly.

"Maribelle!" Lissa exclaimed, still on horseback behind Chrom.

Lissa's voice was enough to get Maribelle to stop, not that her struggling could do anything against the soldiers brut strength. "Lissa?" she asked, worry and blind panic began to rise in her chest. "Darling, you're here?"

Aversa pointed straight at Maribelle. "This girl crossed the Plegian border without our consent," she accused. "And what's more she wounded the brave Plegian soldiers who only sought to safely escort her home."

"Lies!" Maribelle exclaimed, once more struggling against her captors. "You speak nothing but lies, hag! Did they not teach you the meaning of the word 'truth' in your wretched-crone school?!"

"You see?" Aversa said with a sigh as she crossed her arms over her chest. "No manners at all. Such a nasty little bird simply had to be caged."

"Such a violent temper speaks to her guilt," Gangrel nodded in agreement. "This will call for a weighty punishment. And if she were to later confess to being a Ylissean spy? My goodness! It would take an act of considerable good faith to repair our relations."

"I have done nothing wrong!" shouted Maribelle. "It is _they_ who should confess! They are the ones who invaded Ylisse. They razed an entire village! When I attempted to intervene, they took me and dragged me across the border. Let the plundered shops and charred homes of that village serve as my proof!"

"That would only prove Ylisse has a bandit problem - something I hear oft of late," Gangrel replied. As much as Anali hated it, he had a point, especially if it was bandits, not soldiers. If it were soldiers, it would have been a horse of a different color. "But, tonight I shall weep salty tears into my pillow for your dead villagers."

"Your Grace, please!" Maribelle begged.

"Peace, Maribelle. I believe you," Emmeryn reassured her. She looked back at Gangrel. Her usual calm, gentle expression was replaced with an unreadable, stony one. "King Gangrel, I request that you release this young woman at once. Surely you and I can sort out these affairs without the need of hostages."

"Without so much as an _apology_?" Gangrel asked, fringing offence. "Why should I even bother with parley? I'm within my rights to have her head this instant and be home in time for supper!"

"You black-hearted devil!" Chrom exclaimed as dismounted his own horse.

"Control your dog, my dear," the Plegian King said boredly. "Before he gets someone hurt."

The blue haired prince flinched slightly, gritting his teeth all the while. King Gangrel slapped his hands together, and rubbed the palms against each other. "Now then, Your Graceliness," he said giddily. "Perhaps we can arrange a trade? You give me the Fire Emblem, and I return Mari Quite Contrary here in one piece."

"Oh no!" Sumia gasped under her breath.

"What?" Anali asked. "What's the Fire Emblem?"

"One of Ylisse's precious treasures," Sumia explained. "They say the first Exalt used it, with the Falchion, to slay Grima. But why would the Mad King want the Emblem? It's just a shield on its own…"

Anali was still confused, the Emblem was a shield? Ultimately, Anali decided that all she needed to know was that it was just very important, and let it be done with. She could research it later. "You would ask for Ylisse's royal treasure?" Emmeryn asked her voice laced with a hint of confusion. "But why?"

"Because I know the legend!" boasted Gangrel. "The Fire Emblem is the key to having all one's wishes realized. I have desired it for years. _Years!_" He shrugged as he continued to speak, "But alas, my birthday comes and goes each year, and nothing from Ylisse."

"The Emblem's power is meant for a single purpose, King Gangrel," Emmeryn said firmly, as though it was something Gangrel should have already been well aware of. "To save the world and its people in their hour of most desperate need. Would you claim a more noble wish?"

At this the jolly expression Gangrel carried throughout this whole ordeal turned dark. "I want what every Plegian wants," he said, his voice growing with each word. "A grisly end for every last Ylissean! What could be more noble than that?!"

"What?"

"Surely you have not forgotten what your father did to my people? Exalt Calhoun named us heathens!" yelled King Gangrel. "His 'crusade' across Plegia butchered countless of my subjects and my kin!"

Anali's brow arched. What was Gangrel talking about? Of course she heard about the previous conflict with Plegia a few times. But Anali always thought it started, more or less, as it did now, with bandits trying to provoke. But Gangrel was talking like the last Exalt started the whole thing, for little to no valid reason. The previous war affected a lot of the Shepherds, Anali understood that Vaike was one of them, and there was a reason why Frederick and Phila distrusted her. It was just now that Anali was beginning to realize that she really did not understand what happened fifteen years ago.

Emmeryn flinched at Gangrel's words. Of course she did not forget, for she would never allow herself to. Nor would Emmeryn allow the royal line of Ylisse to forget what happened. "I have never denied Ylisse's past wrongdoings," she shook her head slowly. Looking back up with a firm resolve, she said, "But I have sworn to never repeat those mistakes. Ours is now a realm of peace."

"Yours is now a haven of hypocrisy!" snapped Gangrel. "Now give me the Fire Emblem!"

"No, Your Grace!" shouted Maribelle. "I'd sooner die than act as some bargaining chip for this filthy reprobate!"

Emmeryn whispered, "No, Maribelle…"

"Ugh, talk-talk-_taaaaaalk_!" complained Gangrel. "It's time to speak louder than words! This negotiation is over, Your Luminosity!" He drew his sword from its sheath and pointed it at Emmeryn. "I shall have the Emblem if I have to pry it from your shiny dead hands!"

Soldiers immerged from their hiding spots around the rocky terrain. One of them made the mistake of charging towards Emmeryn. In a flash, Chrom removed Falchion from its sheath, and struck down the Plegian soldier with an impressive speed. "Stay back!" he shouted a warning at the Plegian soldier's just a head of him. "Or you'll all suffer the same fate!"

Gangrel threw his head back and laughed. "Now that's a declaration of war if I've ever heard one!" he exclaimed gleefully. "A big, messy war that will bleed you Ylisseans dry!"

From over head, an alicorn swooped down, and landed in front of Chrom and Emmeryn. "Your Grace," Phila said, holding a hand out to the Exalt. "It's not safe here."

"But…" Emmeryn's voice trailed off.

"Please, Your Grace," Traino spoke up, seated upon his own stallion. His eyes were bugged out so much it was a wonder they did not fall out of their sockets. "I trust the Prince and his Shepherds have everything under control."

Chrom only nodded in agreement. "Emm, please," Chrom begged.

"Very well," she said, begrudgingly.

Taking Phila by the hand, Emmeryn pulled herself up, seating herself behind her. Phila snapped at the reigns and the alicorn took off flying. Traino cleared his throat, and adjusted his glasses. "And this will be where I bow out. 'Fraid this old man is quite useless in physical conflict."

"Just keep yourself safe, Traino," Chrom reassured him.

With a curt nod, Traino snapped the reins of his horse. The stallion galloped off, following Phila's alicorn.

Aversa waltzed up to Maribelle. She had one hand on her hip, while her other hand grasped the side of her chin. "Poor, stupid girl," Aversa mused. "Are you really worth fighting a war over? Years from now, you'll be remembered only as she who destroyed House Ylisse."

Maribelle's legs began to tremble. "No…" she said, just barely above a whisper. She could feel tears beginning to slip down her cheeks. Maribelle leaned forward as far as her captors would allow. "That's not… Oh, Lissa… Please, no…"

Maribelle gasped at the sudden gust of wind, one of the soldiers cried out as she felt a pair of hands leave her. Another blast tossed the other man off her, leaving Maribelle alone with Aversa. The surprises of the day did not let out, as Ricken suddenly ran up to Maribelle, taking her by the hand. "Let's go! Now!" Ricken encouraged.

Dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events, all Maribelle could do was simply ask, "Ricken?"

"Oh, is this your little boyfriend?" asked Aversa. Her voice was a bit condescending, and of a higher pitch in tone; like she were talking to a very young child.

Ricken's brow furrowed. "Don't talk down to me, witch!"

Without another word, he tossed his hand forward. Aversa stepped back, her hands wrapped around her neck as she struggled to breathe. Ricken's wind flew around her head, making it difficult for her to take a breath in.

"Come on, Maribelle!" Ricken shouted, leading her to the brutes that kept her horse at bay.

Another two spells later and the soldiers were tossed away, allowing Maribelle to mount her mare. She helped Ricken on behind her and snapped the reins.

What no one noticed was that Ricken had, not only followed the Shepherds, but snuck around King Gangrel and Aversa during the negotiations. In the end, Ricken was glad he did, with the negotiations going down hill, Maribelle surely would have been killed.

Aversa still held her neck with one hand as she caught her breath. _The little brat!_ Their hostage… Well, it did not matter. The Ylissean's were outnumbered, and those two would be dead long before they reached their comrades.

Gangrel watched as Ylisse's Prince and his soldiers fought against his own men. Looks like war was right over the horizon. "Captain Orton!" Gangrel declared as he turned to face the Wyvern Rider who served as his Captain. "Remain here, and take down as many Ylisseans as you can."

"Sire!" Orton said, saluting his king.

Gangrel mounted a black pegasus, waiting impatiently for Aversa. Without another word, the pair took off into the air, back towards Plegia. Ah, yes, war was looming over them, and Calhoun's descendants blood would paint the Ylisse lands with red.

Anali decided that things had gotten quite bad when Chrom first struck down one of the Mad King's soldiers. But things had gone straight to hell by the time Ricken intervened. To his credit, both he and Maribelle were fighting back against the soldiers quite well. Of course, Ricken had his Elwind tome, and then there was Maribelle. Until that moment, Anali could count on one hand the times she met with the blonde girl in pink. But she still always thought Maribelle was the kind to stay as far away from conflict as possible. Not for the same reasons Emmeryn did, but because Maribelle found it unbecoming of a lady.

So Anali would have been tickled pink when she saw Maribelle leading her mare, with pretty pink ribbons in its mane, while bashing soldiers with her white parasol. Under different circumstances, this would have been quite funny.

But even Anali knew when it was a good time for joking around, right now she needed to give out orders to the others. She pulled her sword out of the shoulder of one of Plegia's Mages then flicked her wrist, swiping blood off of the blade. She bashed the hilt of her sword into the guys forehead. "Sumia!" she called, waving her free hand, hoping to get her friends attention.

Rosella whinnied as she glided down to a stop beside Anali. "There's a couple of Wyvern Riders above Maribelle and Ricken," said Anali. She gestured to the pair who were battling against a Barbarian and a Mage. "Think you can handle them?"

She saw Sumia's hand tighten around her lance as she looked up at the soldiers on wyverns. "Yeah," she said, though she still sounded unsure. "I can handle them."

"Wyverns are weak against wind magic," Anali said, trying to be reassuring. "And Ricken's a smart kid. If you run into trouble, he'll know to help you."

Without saying anything, Sumia nodded. She nudged Rosella, and she took off flying with one powerful flap of her wings. Anali hurried across the field, her blade momentarily crossed with the axe of a Plegian soldier. He pulled his axe back for another swing, dropping to her knees, Anali ducked under the blade, and slashed at the Plegian's knee. He let out a cry as he collapsed. "Chrom!" Anali called, hurrying to the prince's side.

"Anali!" Chrom gasped as he removed his sword from a man's gut. He reached out for Anali, taking her by the arm, and lead her so that they stood back-to-back. "What's the plan?"

"Sumia's taking out the Wyvern Riders," Anali explained, switching out her sword for her tome. "If she runs into trouble Ricken's wind magic will help her."

"All right," Chrom said, blocking an oncoming attack from a Plegian Myrmidon. "Anything else?"

"Keep your eyes open," said Anali. "When there's less soldiers, someone goes in for the attack on the captain. But, who do we want to attack? He's a captain, so- Oh, get down!"

Obediently, Chrom dropped to the ground, Anali threw her hand behind her, as lightning struck the oncoming Mage. "Anyway, as I was saying," Anali continued as Chrom got back onto his feet. "He's a captain, so he's no pushover; we can't use brute strength alone to take him out. So I suggest we have Frederick team up with Virion. Frederick could keep Virion safe, and get him to the captain, and fire one or two arrows in the proper place, and down he goes."

Chrom thought about it for a moment. Yes, Virion and Frederick were probably the best choice to finish the job. The archer was more likely to lay a killing blow upon him. Even though Anali sent Sumia to take out the other Wyvern Riders, but not the captain. She knew Orton would have been too much for Sumia, but both Virion and Frederick had skill and years under their belts.

"If I see either of them, I'll pass the message along," said Chrom.

And then they broke apart.

Vaike tossed his axe in the direction of a Myrmidon who was giving Lon'qu a bit of trouble. The Myrmidon went down in a fountain of blood; as soon as he hit the ground, Vaike hurried to retrieve his axe. "Hmph," Lon'qu uttered audibly, with his sword at his side. "That was almost impressive."

"_'Almost?'_" Vaike repeated with distaste. "You woulda lost your head by now if I didn-"

In a flash, Lon'qu was right up in Vaike's face. The blond man heard a strangled cry behind him, followed by the dull thud of a body hitting the floor. Lon'qu drew his bloodied sword back, and smirked. "You were saying?"

All Vaike could do was let out a weak laugh.

The fallen Barbarian slipped off of Stahl's lance. An Elthunder spell flew in his direction, thankfully his stallion leapt to the side, and the Mage met the sharp end of Donnel's lance. Stahl could not help but notice that there was a strange spring in Donnel's step as he fought. Like he was feeling pretty good in spite of the carnage and the lack of sleep.

Or food for that matter.

Gods, Stahl was starving.

Lissa stayed by Anali's side as Frederick and Virion tore through the battle field, straight to Orton. Not too far in front of them, was Sully and Miriel, both of them on horseback, creating an absolute storm of blade and fire as Baldulf raced through the field. Then there was Liam and Chrom, who stood back-to-back. Chrom's sword pierced through the solar plexus of one soldier. Liam on the other hand, leapt into the air, and plunged his own blade in between the shoulder and neck of one of the Plegian soldiers.

Anali looked up at the sky, there was only one Wyvern Rider left, Captain Orton. At the moment, Sumia, thankfully, circled around the area above Maribelle and Ricken, most likely to keep an eye on them should they become overwhelmed. But the number of soldiers had diminished quite marginally. The Shepherds could win this.

Hooves thundered against the ground as Frederick and Virion raced up hill to Orton. Skillfully, and with grace, Virion removed an arrow from the quiver on his back. He nocked the arrow onto the bow string and pulled back. His aim was, surprisingly given his situation, true, and the arrow pierced into the wyverns chest. Orton yelled a few curses, the last of them cut off as a second arrow logged itself into Orton's chest. And the both of them landed onto the ground in a bloodied heap.

Things calmed down shortly after. Lissa was checking, and double checking to see if Anali had gotten hurt in all of the chaos. At worst, Anali's hand might have stung a little as she was still getting used to her new sword, but it was not anything the salve Stahl had given her could not cure.

Then came the _trot, trot, _from Maribelle's mare. The ribbons in her mane were coming undone, and her hair was matted, nothing quite like a well-groomed steed owned by the ladylike Maribelle. "Maribelle!" Lissa exclaimed flinging herself onto her friend. The embrace lasted a few minutes before the princess pulled herself away. "Are you hurt?!"

"Nothing I didn't return twofold, darling," Maribelle replied, tapping her parasol into her palm for further emphasis.

"I'm… eh…" Anali's voice trailed off. When both Lissa and Maribelle looked at her there was a tiny part of Anali that wished she never said anything in the first place. "I'm glad you're safe."

"Oh," said Maribelle. There was a hint of surprise in her voice that she probably wasn't bothering to hide. "You are?"

"Yeah," Anali said with a bit of a sigh. "I… know you're not especially fond of me, but it's a relief just the same."

"Oh, it's not a question of fondness," the blonde girl replied. "I am simply protective of Lissa. My treasure is very sensitive-"

At that, Lissa interrupted with a high-pitched, whiny, _"Hey!"_

But Maribelle continued as though it never happened, "And…" her voice trailed off as she stiffened. "Am I really justifying myself to a commoner? Well, yes, I suppose I do… apologize for being curt and pushy. And…" She curtsied. "And you have my thanks for your part in the rescue." Straightening herself up, Maribelle held her head high, and rested her parasol on her shoulder, still closed. "There, I said it!"

With things calmed down, Phila returned with Emmeryn. "Forgive me, Emm," Chrom told her with a heavy voice. "I acted rashly."

"It's all right, Chrom," Emmeryn reassured him, however the tone carried a clear hit of concern. "King Gangrel is the one at fault here. You were only protecting me."

"The Mad King will be rallying his forces," Frederick said, standing close behind Chrom. "If they have not mobilized already. I suggest we make haste back to Ylisstol and discuss our strategy."

"Of course, Frederick," agreed Emmeryn. "It seems war is upon us. We must protect the Ylissean people at all costs."

* * *

Anali was not, and should not have been, surprised when she was asked to join everyone in the counsel room to discuss strategy. They did not return to Ylisstol until later that evening; the Shepherds were greeted with a light dinner, but some went straight to bed out of sheer exhaustion.

The counsel room simply consisted of Anali herself, Chrom, Emmeryn, Lissa, Frederick, Traino, and Phila. "Judging from Gangrel's behavior today," Anali spoke up, leaning foreword in her seat. "I can definitely say if he's going to make the first attack, he'll strike Ylisstol first."

"Yes, I agree," said Phila. "If Ylisstol falls it will be enough to send the rest of the realm into a panic. And then what?"

"But our soldiers are outnumbered… vastly," Traino pointed out. "Nor are they all in Ylisstol, they've been scattered to the duchies after the abduction of Lady Maribelle."

"But we _have_ more soldiers," Chrom pointed out. "Feroxi soldiers."

Anali nodded in agreement, "And since we wouldn't just advertise the alliance…"

"We could have the element of surprise," Frederick said, slowly realizing where she was getting at. "Not just with the alliance by itself, but the fact that we have the soldiers of Regna Ferox on our side."

"And their soldiers are like a one-man-army on their own!" Lissa said excitedly, her hands balled up by her face.

"They're still human, Lissa," Chrom said with a slight smile. "I wouldn't go that far."

Six sets of eyes were glued on Emmeryn, who had been nothing but silent throughout the entire meeting. This was a situation Emmeryn had hoped to avoid. Another war was the last thing her people needed. But King Gangrel was so gung-ho about having a war, no matter what it cost, there was no way to avoid it. "We made an alliance with Regna Ferox for this very reason," she said, ruefully. Her blue eyes then locked upon Chrom. "Could you…"

"We'll march to Regna Ferox first thing in the morning," Chrom said with a nod.

Emmeryn gave him a very placid smile, then rose up from her seat. "We've all had a very long and tiring day," said Emmeryn. "I will turn in for the night, and I encourage all of you to do the same."

Immediately, Lissa ran into Emmeryn's arms, resting her head on the crook of her neck as they hugged. Quietly, Anali got up and snuck out of the room, she just wanted to collapse in bed herself. She would become concern about the situation at hand after she got a little sleep. "Color me impressed, Lady Anali," she heard.

Turning around, Anali found Traino walking up to her. His green robes were so long he almost looked like he was floating with each step. "I'm sorry?" replied Anali.

"Your gift for strategy, it's a bit… _impressive_ for one who claims to have lost their memory."

"I _have_ lost my memory, sir," Anali insisted. She tried not to sound too offended, no one really accused her of faking her memory loss for a while, not since the Farfort.

Traino smiled in a way that told her that he did not believe her. "Forgive me, Lady Anali, but I do find it the slightest bit suspicious when one of the Grimleal arrives in the palace, right in the middle of a conflict, mind you, claiming to have lost their memory," the hierarch explained, eyeing Anali's coat. "Especially one that looks like they came straight out of a slaughter house."

Anali could not help but flinch slightly. She really did not have an answer for the blood on her when she first woke up, and it did concern her, especially since it wasn't hers. Slowly, Anali shook her head. "I-I don't…" her voice trailed off. "I don't…"

"Ah, yes, you must forgive me, Lady Anali," Traino said holding a hand up. "After all, we have no definitive proof you've done anything to that poor woman."

Anali's brow rose. "What?" she asked, her voice shallow and breathy. "What woman?"

"Oh dear," Traino said, bringing a hand to his mouth. "No one told you? There was an attack in Elrond, back in March. So strange, really, Plegian's chased a caravan into town, but, more-or-less, left the village alone. In the morning they found a woman from the caravan dead, and then the Prince and Princess found you, just a few miles outside of the village, covered in blood."

"What are you implying?" Anali asked, trying not to lose her temper. "You're implying that I…?"

"I'm just saying it's all so convenient," Traino said walking away. "Let's just hope you're not trying to… run from anything."

* * *

**Authors Note: **So what's with all the random villages being named after Lord of the Rings characters? It's like it's a running gag or something.

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine  
The Foreseer**

_I run through the cobbled streets in the dead of night. There are so few lights out I'm afraid I'll fall over before reaching my destination. In front of me is another person; a woman, judging from their slender figure. But, other than that, I cannot see any specific details about her. The woman is just a regular ghost; I cannot tell if I'm following her or chasing her._

_But I do feel a sense of urgency. I know that I must keep running. I may very well meet my end if I stop. But what I'm running from, or even why, I do not know. Nothing is making any sense._

_My heart stops for a moment; my foot catches onto something unseen. I fall flat onto my front, my bust and knees scream in pain, but I do not think anything is broken. The woman in front of me grabs me by the shoulder, pulling me onto my feet. She drags me into an alley where I can catch my breath._

_After a few minutes I poke my head down the streets, I feel relieved to find our pursuers have not caught up with us. I turn back towards the woman to inform her, only to find that she collapsed onto the ground. She is still sitting up, with her back to the wall, but I am panicked. _

_The woman grasps me by the shoulder and gives me instructions. I shake my head and yell something in return, but my voice does not reach my ears. The woman pulls me towards her, she whispers something into my ears._

Anali woke up feeling cold. She looked down at herself, she felt no ache from the fall. It was just a dream, but Anali still felt like crying. Taking in a few deep breaths, hoping to calm herself, Anali slowly sat up. She was quick to put her boots on, having fallen asleep in her clothes, and got up. She felt like crying, but hopefully some fresh air would help.

Slowly, she got onto her feet, and hurried for the door. The halls were quiet, so, if Anali was wearing her nightgown, there would not have been anyone to see her. She knew the others sleep schedules, although that information did earn her a good scolding after attacking Lon'qu with grapes while he slept. It was to work out her little theory.

Although, it _was_ quite funny.

However, unknown to Anali, Sully peered around the corner, watching Anali as she slipped outside. Crossing her arms over her chest, Sully sighed. She could see the look in her eyes, the same big, red eyed, 'I'm-trying-not-to-cry' look. "Did Anali have another nightmare?" she heard, which caused her to jump.

Sully whipped around to find Kellam behind her. "Damn it, pipsqueak!" Sully hissed. "You tryin' to give me a heart attack or something?"

"But I've been here the whole time," protested Kellam.

It was Sully's turn for night watch, but Kellam suggested that he take over for a few hours to give Sully a chance to get a little sleep. It took a bit of arguing, but Sully ultimately agreed to it. They were supposed to be switching now. "To answer your question, yes," Sully replied, leaning against the wall. "I think she did. You know about it?"

"First night she came," Kellam explained. "She just said she had a nightmare, and went to get water. But I think she was a little shaken by it."

"She had one in Ferox," added Sully. "I thought she was going to start crying right then and there." Sighing again, Sully crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not going to lie, when she first came, at the most I just thought she was a former member of the Grimleal and created an amnesia ploy hoping to start over, just get away from it all, you know?"

Kellam nodded, though the thought never occurred to him. As far as he was concerned, Anali had been nothing but honest about her amnesia. Why would someone lie about losing their memories? "But, things changed," Sully continued. "She successfully got us through the Farfort with no casualties, lead this army with Chrom with a even head, and the more she talked to us, the more I liked her. And then I heard her wake up from a nightmare in Ferox."

"I don't think Anali would make up something like that," said Kellam. "Stahl's noticed how bothered she is that she can't remember anything from before. I don't know if her nightmares have anything to do with her past. She wouldn't share it when I first asked, so maybe she's afraid of something."

Sully couldn't help but smirk as she looked up at Kellam. "You're a bit perceptive there, Pipsqueak," she said with a tone of playfulness.

Taking a step back, Kellam blushed slightly. "I-I told you," he said, holding a hand up. "I just like helping my friends in any way I can."

Tossing her head back, Sully let out a haughty laugh.

The cool air felt wonderful on her face. Hugging herself, Anali took in a few calming breaths as she walked around the garrison grounds. These nightmares… why was her only response to run and cry? Or at least distract herself so she would not cry. Was that always how Anali reacted to a nightmare? What a sheltered child she must have been, then.

Looking up, Anali saw a figure in the near-distance, standing beside the bushes, and a near-bye tree. The figure was just standing around, and looking down at the ground in deep thought. But Anali wasn't afraid, she knew who it was by the blue hair and white cape that billowed in the wind.

It must have been late, had he not gone to bed yet? The fact that he was still completely dressed suggested he had not. "Chrom?" Anali asked, approaching him. "What are you doing out so late?"

Chrom looked over his shoulder to find her walking up to him. "Oh, hi, Anali," he said, his voice sounded tired. "Just… dueling with some unpleasant thoughts."

Anali stood at his side, still hugging herself, just to do something with her arms. There was a long silence between them, neither said anything, and just stared off into the distance. "Anali," Chrom spoke up after a while. He seated himself onto the ground, and Anali followed suit. "There's something you should know before we march to Ferox… Not everything Gangrel said today was a lie."

She bit the inside of her cheek, but did not say anything; she just waited for Chrom to make his piece. "Calhoun, the last Exalt, my father, waged war on Plegia for many years," Chrom explained, his voice heavy as he pushed his bangs back with one hand. "The violence… It was a brutal campaign, ending only when he and my mother died fifteen years ago."

Oh, this was new to her. Anali did not fool herself into thinking that both of his parents were still alive. Not when Emmeryn was on the throne. Anali just never realized the last Exalt died together with his wife, as Chrom's choice of words suggested. "Plegia rightfully remembers their suffering," Chrom continued. "But Calhoun's war was no kinder to his own people. As the fighting dragged on, our army became more and more diminished. Farmers who could barely wield a pitchfork were conscripted and sent to their deaths. Soon there was no food at all, and the kingdom began to collapse."

Chrom paused for a moment to sigh. Anali waited, respectfully for him to continue. But she spent a moment to debate on whether or not she should pat his shoulder or something. "I was young," said Chrom. "But I remember those dark times… I know how they affected Emmeryn."

"Of course," Anali said quietly. "Such an experience would change anyone."

"Indeed," Chrom agreed. "When our mother and father died before her tenth year, our father left her quite the legacy… Plegia's desire for vengeance… Our own people's unbridled rage… My sister became a target for blame from all sides. Her own subjects began to hurl insults… and stones. She still bears the scar from one… But she never let them see her pain. Only Lissa and I understood."

Anali brought one hand to her mouth. Was that shortly after Emmeryn took the throne? It had to be, if the people were still that angry, it had to be shortly after she became Exalt. And she was still a _child_ back then. Oh, gods… Of course, her people had every right to be angry, but to use a child as their scapegoat… _Oh, gods…_

She wasn't quite sure what she was doing. Her hands wrapped around Chrom's arm, and she leaned her head into it. "I'm so sorry," she said, even though she wasn't sure what she was apologizing for. "It must have been so hard…"

She was a little surprised when she felt Chrom place his opposite hand on her head. "I cannot claim to know how she does it, Anali," he confessed. "I could never greet such hostility with warmth and patience. While our people mocked and vilified her, she reached out and healed them. She brought soldiers home to their families. She ended the war. And when Ylisse's sprit was mended and the people 'forgave' her?"

He said that last bit with such spite Anali had to peek up at him. Chrom did not seem angry to her, not anymore at least, but he just shook his head. "She never resented them for it. She represents the best of the haildom - the part worth protecting. She _is_ peace."

By now, Chrom had lowered his hand from her head, and Anali sat back up. Should she say something? She felt like she should have. But what could Anali say that could make it better? "But some men would take advantage of that," continued Chrom. "Men like King Gangrel. The day he understands peace will be the day death gives it to him… So perhaps I must be death's agent. Emmeryn would never order him killed, nor would I wish her to."

"Well spoken, sir."

Immediately, the pair rose to their feet, as a familiar masked man walked into view. He gave them a brief nod, "Good evening to you."

Not wanting to beat around the bush, Chrom asked, "How did you get in here?"

That was a good question, as Anali realized. The garrison was on castle grounds after all, there were guards stationed around the perimeter. And there were guards in and around the garrison, too. "The cleft in the castle wall," explained Marth. "Behind the maple grove."

"There? But how would you…?" Chrom's voice trailed off as his forehead met with his palm.

"You eh… know the place, Chrom?" asked Anali.

"Yes," Chrom lowered his hand. "I bashed in part of the wall while training the Shepherds. It was only a small hole, and I'd thought it was well concealed, but…"

Wait, he bashed a hole in a, presumably thick, wall? And it was apparently big enough for Marth to slip in through? Yeah, if Marth was able to get in, then it could not have been a 'small hole.' "Geez, Chrom," Anali couldn't help but say. "I know you have a knack for breaking things, but seriously?"

Chrom gave her a very weak chuckle. But any euphoria he felt came and went very quickly. He looked back at Marth, "Could you, perhaps…"

"Your secret is safe with me," Marth assured him. "I come here only to warn you."

"Warn us?" questioned Chrom.

"The Exalts life is in danger," Marth said bluntly.

Anali nearly leapt back at this. "What, Emmeryn?" Chrom asked, voicing the thoughts Anali had. The prince shook his head as though trying to rid himself of the thought. "That's absurd. She's guarded at all hours."

"What if…" Marth's voice trailed off for a moment. He thought about it, choosing his words very carefully. "What if I told you that I have seen the future? Would you believe me? A future where Emmeryn is killed. Here. Tonight."

"Seen the future?" Anali asked with a shakiness in her tone. It was a bit jarring to think that this dashing young hero could be potentially mad, but here he was, making such claims. Anali tried to come up with something to say, but her words were lost, there just wasn't anything to respond to that.

Wordlessly, Marth crossed his arms over his chest. "I expected you wouldn't believe me," he said thoughtfully, and without anger. He understood fully well how he must have sounded. "So allow me to prove it!"

Without another word, Marth removed his sword from its sheath, and pointed it at Chrom. The prince's hand grasped the hilt of the Falchion, ready to remove it if necessary. Instinctively, Anali reached for her own sword, but found that she had nothing to grab. Ah, yes, there was one other thing Anali took off, and never put back on when she fell asleep; her effects.

"I'm about to save your life," Marth informed Chrom. His head turned to the side, looking over his shoulder at the shrubbery. "From him."

The bushes rustled, as a man with a cowl over his head, and sword drawn, sprinted out from the bushes. Marth tossed his sword into the air and he followed suit, back flipping over the assassin, who had stopped in momentary confusion. As soon as Marth landed, he sliced his sword across the man's back, the man tensed up, his arms jerking momentarily before he fell forward dead.

"I trust," Marth said, straightening himself up. "This proof will suffice?"

Chrom, no less stunned than Anali was, nodded slowly, "Yeah."

There was another rustle, this time, from the tree. Another Assassin leapt out, sword in hand, pointed straight at Marth. Marth quickly whipped around, but was completely unaware of the fallen Assassin's sword right by his feet. The masked boy slipped on it, just as the Assassin struck for an attack. In away, the little slip up may have very well saved Marth, but the assassin's sword still slashed at his face, cutting his masked in two right down the middle.

Anali's first instinct was the hurry to Marth's side and check for any signs of bleeding. But she froze, less than two feet away from him as long, blue hair unraveled around him, Now, without the mask shielding his eyes, Anali could see Marth's long eyelashes. Since they first met, Anali always thought Marth was close to Lissa's age. Now she was beginning to realize that 'he' was probably closer to Anali's age. "Oh…" Anali's voice trailed off. "_Wow._"

All the while, Chrom had sped past the both of them and slashed Falchion across the chest of the assassin. He fell dead onto the ground behind his fallen comrade. Sheathing his sword, he turned to face Marth and Anali. "Wait, you're…" Chrom gasped. "You're a woman?"

"And quite the actress, too," Marth said, speaking in her natural voice, which carried the slightest trace of humor. "Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't figure it out until just now."

"Honestly, so am I!" Anali groaned, slapping her hand against her forehead. In hindsight it was obvious. Marth's delicate jaw line, her slim figure, her effeminate voice. How in the seven hells did Anali miss it?!

The earth trembled as something exploded in the palace. Anali's breath caught in her throat for a moment, as the three of them sprinted in the direction of the explosion.

* * *

Just outside the palace wall, dust was beginning to settle from the new hole that was blown into it. "Remember, I want the Emblem in my hands and Emmeryn dead on the floor!" the man barked at his men as they stormed into Ylisse Palace through the still crumbling hole in the wall. "Let nothing distract you from either purpose!"

The man was quite tall, dressed in black robes with purple and gold accents. His dark hair was slicked back behind him, his goatee, which had a white skunk stripe down the center, was long enough that it nearly touched his collar.

"Validar!" the man heard from behind him. The Sorcerer, Validar, looked over his shoulder to find one of his assassins. He had his cowl up, hiding his eyes in the shadow it gave off, and a metal mask that covered the lower half of his face. The Assassin crossed his arms over his chest. "The Assassins you sent after the Prince were struck down."

"What?!" Validar snapped at him; the Assassin had his full attention now.

"You heard me," the assassin replied. "He was out alone with his tactician when they were saved by a masked girl, she knew we were waiting for them."

Validar grit his teeth. But how?! How could they have seen this attack coming? "It matters not," Validar shouted. "The Exalts blood will stain the floor, and I will have the Fire Emblem by morning."

Validar's units stormed through the castle, opening every door, and turning over every table in their wake. Some were in the process of stealing valuable goods wherever they could find it. One in particular, a ginger haired young man of nineteen and his pockets lined with sweets, felt a bit conflicted with himself. Not the fact that he was stealing, he probably would have robbed Naga blind if he only could.

No, that did not bother him. What bothered him was that they were apparently here to _kill_ the Exalt?

Funny how his employer was so kind to omit that little detail. Sure, he'd rob the Exalt and her family and have a clear conscience about it. But killing someone as sweet as Lady Emmeryn, that was a horse of a completely different color. Then again, killing an innocent in general never sat well with him.

Their entrance, however, was loud enough to shake the palace grounds, and wake nearly everyone. So the Shepherds were already getting their clothes on and effects by the time the alarm bell started to ring. Anali followed Chrom and Marth down one of the halls of the palace. A giant portrait of a blue haired man with his arm around a blonde woman had been taken off the wall, and settled on the floor. The painting had a door hidden behind it. Inside the room, Emmeryn, still in her nightwear, was already inside with Phila and Traino. Frederick stood outside as the other Shepherds ran around him, passing along any news, or helping them find anything the bar the doors. "Frederick!" Chrom called approaching the Great Knight. "What's happened?"

"Milord," Frederick greeted curtly. He had to raise an eyebrow at the sight of Marth, hair down around her, and her mask gone, but these were questions to be asked later. "From what we can gather they entered through the south-west, using explosive powder, the invaders have scattered the instant the wall came down. We had Lady Emmeryn relocated to the safe house."

"Excellent," replied Chrom. "And the Fire Emblem?"

"Already with her."

Anali tilted herself to the side, canning her neck so that she could peek inside the safe house. It was a very plain, brick room, where Emmeryn, still in her nightgown, stood just barely inside, her hands in a prayer position. For a 'safe room' Anali was less than impressed. While it had the right idea by hiding the door behind a giant portrait, the door itself was made out of wood, and whoever these people were had explosive powder. _And_ they could easily ram the thing down.

From the inside of the room, Emmeryn slowly peeled her eyes open. Her brow rose the instant she saw her brother. "Chrom!" she gasped; she held one hand over her chest. "Please, take Lissa and flee while there's still time! You have but one life, I do not wish it weighed against mine!"

"No, Emm!" Chrom responded, holding up one hand to talk with him. "Just stay there, we'll take care of everything out here."

Anali placed a hand on Chrom's arm, getting his attention. "Chrom, Frederick," she spoke. "Neither of you are going to like what I'm about to say; but I suggest we don't lock Emmeryn inside."

Instantly, both men started talking over each other, arguing why it was a bad idea. Anali held both hands up in front of her, "Wait, wait, _wait! _Just hear me out. We know for a fact that these guys have explosive powder, if we're separated from her, and Emmeryn's locked in they're going to use it, and potentially hurt her and destroy the Fire Emblem."

"So what do you suggest?" Frederick asked her. "We can't leave her unguarded."

"Well, I suggest we have Marth guard her. She's as good as Chrom, so who else would be suited for the job?"

Marth gasped slightly as she stared at Anali in awe. Her mouth was slightly opened, her eyes widened, and there was a bit of color in her cheeks. It was like Marth couldn't believe what she heard, although Anali wasn't quite sure why. With Marth's skill she had to be used to this sort of thing. "What's wrong?" asked Anali. "You're clearly capable, and it would be unwise to take Chrom away from the battle."

The blush on Marth's cheeks deepened. "A-Are you sure, milady?" asked Marth.

"Yes, of course," replied Anali. Slowly, she glanced up at Chrom. "If you're okay with it."

Chrom nodded. "You usually know what you're doing," he said, sneaking in a brief jape. "And, as much as I'd rather be the one keeping guard, I'm needed in battle. I trust you're up for it, Marth."

Marth sucked on her lips, and nodded. "I'm more than up for it," she responded.

Without warning, a blue light suddenly escaped through Marth sheath. And suddenly, the rest of the world did not matter to Marth anymore as she slid her sword a few inches out of its sheath. Right where the blade met the hilt, right in the empty center, was a blue light. "What's that?" Chrom asked Marth.

She slipped it back into place and let it hang back at her side. "It's not your concern," Marth replied quickly.

"Seems like nothing ever is with you."

Marth flinched. "My apologies…"

Lissa's scream echoed around the area, in spite of all the people and chaos around them. She ran out of a darkened corridor, where one of the entrances to the garden waited. Maribelle shouted her name as her friend sprinted into Chrom's arms. "Lissa, calm down, what is it?" he asked, placing his hands on her shoulders.

Panting, Lissa pointed down the corridor she came from. "I-I was supposed to lock the door," she explained. "A-And there was…"

A tall, animalistic woman walked out of the shadow, dusting her hands off. She was tall, with dark hair, and was scantily clad in purple armor and dark furs. Her dark hair was done in low braids that fell over her shoulders with a pair of… _ears? _Yes, the woman had long tawny ears that were intertwined with her braids. "Another assassin?" Chrom asked, leading Lissa away from the stranger.

"No!" Marth shook her head quickly. "Panne is not your enemy."

"You know her?"

"I know… _of_ her. And I knew she would come here tonight."

"Quite the prophet, aren't you?"

"As you say. And I swear to you, Panne is an ally."

"Good enough for me," Chrom said with a nod. He looked up at Frederick. "Pass the message along, for now, we leave this Panne character be."

"Is that wise, milord?" Frederick asked in return.

"Marth has earned our trust," explained Chrom. "She enjoys her secrets, I know. But she's also saved our lives. Twice. And that's enough for me."

"Chrom…" Marth's voice trailed off. "Thank you."

"Now, to the matter at hand," Chrom said, pulling out his Falchion. "Driving these scoundrels from our castle!"

The Shepherds had broken out into two separate groups, down two separate halls. Chrom, Anali, Lissa, Frederick, Stahl, Liam, Sumia, Donnel, and this Panne character down the West hall. And Sully, Virion, Vaike, Miriel, Kellam, Lon'qu, Maribelle, and Ricken in the East hall. All while Marth stood, guarding Emmeryn should the worst come to pass.

As soon as the groups were split into two, all hell had broken loose. Blades flew in the air, a few sour notes were heard when Liam bashed his lyre into someone's head. Anali was pretty sure the thing was ruined, but at the same time, she did not doubt that Liam had a few spares. The real surprise came from Panne. The tall, amazon of a woman slammed her hands onto the floor, and in a glimmer of light, a large brown and tawny rabbit, almost the size of a horse, stood in her place. She ran, running over the opposing forces like a child entertaining himself by squashing mushrooms.

Frederick screamed at the sight of it. When Anali whipped her head in his direction, she found that he had his back pressed against the wall like a child trying to hide behind his parents. "Frederick?!" Anali shouted, which snapped him out of his trance.

The knight shook his head and slapped his face a couple of times. And then he ran his sword into the back of one of the thieves, as though is previous fear had never happened. What had spooked him so much? The fact that Panne transformed into a giant rabbit? Well, yeah, that was surprising, and would have been terrifying if Panne wasn't an ally. But she was. So what had gotten Frederick so scared in that moment?

Lissa stayed close beside Anali as she faced off against various assassins in their path. She was a little impressed with how well Lissa was handling herself at the moment, all things considered. Maybe because Marth was the one guarding Emmeryn, and, having been rescued by Marth herself, Lissa knew first hand how capable she was.

Obviously Marth wasn't her real name, but Anali had no other name for her. Still, she had many questions for Marth, who was she really? Why did she feel the need to hide her face? How could she have known all she did? Yes, Marth had proven herself to be a great ally, but Anali was not quite sure she trusted Marth. She just had too many secrets, too many cryptic messages. She was too aloof to have Anali's full trust.

But Chrom trusted her, and Anali trusted Chrom. Although, as Anali found, Chrom was a little _too_ trusting. What if Anali had been some Plegian spy? What if Anali really was lying about her amnesia and she did have ill intention?

Anali froze in place, remembering what Traino had said to her earlier that night. The caravan, the dead woman in Elrond, Anali covered in blood, her dream tonight. What if she really did kill that woman? Anali was not about to fool herself, she killed people, lots of them by now. She did not necessarily like it, but it was a necessity if Anali wanted to stay alive. It was kill the enemies, or be killed, unless told otherwise.

What sort of enemy could Anali have found in a caravan performer, a group of people just trying to make their way through life? Anali couldn't have done it. But…

"Anali!" Lissa shouted, and suddenly Anali found herself on the floor with Lissa on top of her.

The sword missed their heads by a few, very uncomfortable, inches. The man drew his sword back, ready for another chance to attack, until a lance pierced clean through his throat. As Stahl pulled his weapon out the man made a sickening gurgle. He pressed his back to the wall, trying to breathe, then slid onto the floor, the life leaving him. "Are you two all right?" asked Stahl.

"Yeah," Lissa pulled herself onto her knees and dusted her front off. "Thanks, Stahl."

The blonde helped Anali onto her feet. The white haired young woman looked down at the man Stahl had just killed, still bleeding out on the floor. In her minds eye, all Anali saw was a featureless woman. "Anali!" Lissa yelled, shaking her by the shoulder. "Come on, before you get your head taken off!"

"Sorry," murmured Anali.

"You're sure you're all right?" Stahl asked.

"_Yes!_" Anali snapped. "Lissa, lets go."

She tore down the hall, slicing through anyone who got in her way, as Lissa sprinted behind her to keep up.

Chrom was several yards away from them, leaving a trail of blood behind him. The trail ended at the prince, while he pointed the tip of his sword at the ginger haired thief. "Easy there, blueblood," the thief said with his hands held up in front of him. "I'm not here to hurt anyone."

Chrom lowered the tip of his sword by a few inches. "Yet you run with a band of assassins?" he half-asked.

"Believe it or not," the thief said, placing one hand on his hip, "just trying to make a living. This lot said they wanted to break into some type of vault. Nobody said anything about murder. I'd just as soon sit this one out."

It was enough for Chrom to lower his sword completely. "Then perhaps you'd be willing to prove your good intentions?" he asked.

"Beg pardon?"

"We need all the help we can get to save the Exalt's life," Chrom told him. "You appear capable, and we could use any information you have about our foes."

"Oh, right - _those_ good intentions," the thief said, he almost sounded bored. He started waving his free hand around. "Fine then, I'll prove my sincerity… if you sweeten the deal."

"You want gold?" Chrom asked with a slight growl. It could never be that easy. Irritably, his free hand dug around in the pouch attached to his trousers. "Fine! Just let me-"

A small yellow pouch fell out onto the floor; it was the hard candies Lissa had given him on the way back from the Border Pass. While Chrom did not have that much of a sweet tooth, they did help settle his nerves, to a point, when Lissa gave them to him. "What's in the satchel, hmm?" the thief asked, scooping the bag into his hand.

"Nothing," Chrom said, hoping to just wave it off. Ah, there was his personal suns. "Just candies from my little sister. I'm sure you-"

"'Candies?!'" the thief repeated with a glint in his green eyes. "As in, sugar candies?"

"Well… _yes_, I mean their fruity, but-"

"IT'S A DEAL!" the thief exclaimed, already opening the small satchel.

Chrom stared at the thief as he popped three of the candies into his mouth. He was pretty sure his mouth had hung open. "You'll risk your life for us if I give you… a bag of candy?" he asked. It sounded just as ludicrous as it did in his head now that he had said it out loud.

"Well, I said 'sweeten the deal,' didn't I?" the thief asked after he popped another three candies into his mouth. "Now, don't get me wrong, I'll take gold, too. _Later. _Unless you've got more of these," he held up the candy bag. "Have you got more of these?!"

"I'll ask Lissa…"

"You'll ask Lissa, what?" they heard.

Looking over his shoulder, Chrom found Lissa and Anali approaching them. His tactician's eyes were on the thief, as though she were analyzing him, and trying to decide where he was standing an all of this. "We have a new ally," Chrom said, gesturing to the ginger haired man. "He was originally hired by the ones behind all this, but he's willing to work with us. And he might know where their leader is."

"_'Might'_ being the keyword," said the thief.

"Are you okay with that, though?" Anali asked him. "Incase they turn their blades on you?"

The ginger haired man shrugged. "It's going to take more than that to make Gaius go bye-us," he replied.

Lissa and Anali exchanged dull, unimpressed expressions. As far as puns go, that one was just bad.

* * *

Validar slammed his fist into the wall in a fit of rage. How could his plans have fallen apart so fast?! "Emmeryn was supposed to be an easy target!" he ranted at the masked assassin and his two Mages. "And here are her underlings, keeping her and the Emblem safe before we could touch either of them."

"I've heard a few things about the Prince's army," the masked assassin spoke up. He leaned against the wall, his eyes might have been looking up, but it was difficult to tell with his hood covering his eyes. "Their tactician, a woman called Anali, is nothing short of brilliant."

Validar whipped his gaze over at the Assassin. "What was that?" he asked urgently.

"The tactician," said the assassin. "She was with the Prince when your other Assassins attac-"

_"I meant a name!" _the man snapped. His voice was almost loud enough to draw attention to themselves. "What was her _name_?!"

"You mean Anali? That's all I know, all _anyone_ knows really. Aside from the fact that she's always by the Ylissean prince's side."

Immediately, Validar peered around the corner of the West hall. There were several people battling against his sellswords, and his own followers who came for the occasion. There was the prince, and the princess, while not battling, the younger of the two was busy healing her comrades. A couple of armed soldiers, three of which were clearly used to battling on horses, a village boy, and a _taguel,_ of all things.

But one of the actors did not belong on this stage.

There she was, fighting amongst the Ylisseans. It may have been years since he had last laid eyes upon her, but there was no mistake. She was the very image of that wench in her youth, save for a few subtle differences. The color and shape of her eyes were different from the wenches, but there were enough similarities for Validar to recognize her instantly. And with that coat on, the tactician was almost a dead-wringer for the wench.

And he could barely keep himself from laughing. Fate must have been smiling upon him to give him such a gift on this night.

"Gaius, watch out for Lissa!" Anali shouted, following Chrom as the pair turned the corner.

Quickly, she switched out her sword for her tome as they came across the two opposing Mages, and the man behind the attack in the first place. The Mages bolted towards the pair. Anali dodged the Elwind spell, then followed up by throwing her own Elthunder spell straight at the Sorcerer. He seemed… _familiar_, somehow. Though Anali was certain that this was the first time she had ever seen him.

Validar, in turn, tossed an Elfire spell. Anali felt Chrom pull her into his chest, out of the path of the spell. Releasing Anali, the prince sprinted to the Sorcerer. His blade scraped against the sorcerers bones as it was pushed in and pulled out.

Despite the fact that the Sorcerer was skewered completely, Validar kept himself up. Slowly, he flipped through his tome until a volt of lightning knocked him off his feet. His tome flew out of reach, as the Sorcerer gasped for breath. "No…" he choked out, his voice hoarse, and almost indistinguishable. "This is… all…wrong…"

The masked Assassin watched Validar's end play out through a window, having enough sense to leave as soon as Anali and the Prince showed up. It was all over. In all the years he had known Validar he had never seen him that… _giddy_. It was almost, if not outright, out of character for him. All because of Anali.

He rubbed the back of his neck, now that he thought about it, something about the name sounded familiar. As he thought about it, he saw himself as a boy, peeking into a room where three woman scurried around. One of them tried to sooth a fourth woman in bed, another took a messy bundle to be cleaned, and another hurried out of the room, and shooing him away, to tell of the good news.

Oh, was he _stupid_.

Looking up, the assassin saw that the Prince and Anali had left. And, more importantly that Validar was gone. He heard weak groans in the distance, groans that told him that Validar was making his escape. The Assassin was not quite sure if he should be hopeful or not. After what Validar had seen, there was no way he was just going to roll over and die.

* * *

Anali's hand covered her nose as the bodies were removed from the palace, the blood was in the process of being washed off the floors. She followed Chrom back to the safe room. Emmeryn had finally emerged, both her and the Emblem safe and sound. Traino had her hands in both of his own, the pair expressing joy to see the other safe. Phila placed a warm night robe on Emmeryn's shoulders. The Exalts eyes traveled at random, when she saw her brother her face lit up, "Chrom!"

"Thank the gods you're safe," Chrom said as they met half way.

Anali, stood a few feet away from the siblings, right beside Marth. "It is you I have to thank, Chrom," the Exalt said, burying her face into his chest.

"I beg your forgiveness, milord," said Phila. Her head was bowed, with her right arm crossed over her chest. "I have failed in my duty - they should have never made it into the castle in the first place."

"Phila!" Traino gasped. "Please, don't be so hard on yourself. None of us could have known this would happen."

Chrom nodded in agreement. "Only Marth could-"

"Marth?!" both Phila and Traino gasped in unison.

"Yes, I should speak more with…" his voice trailed off as he looked over his shoulder. Marth was gone, having slipped out without anyone noticing. "Um… Anali, where's Marth?"

"Uh…" she lowered her hand from her nose. "Excellent question. She was just here a moment ago…"

"Not again!" groaned Chrom.

Outside, Marth carefully scanned the grounds. A small smile played upon her lips as she picked up the two halves of her mask. There wasn't much of a point in wearing it anymore, but still, it seemed such a waste of excellent craftsmanship. Perhaps the blacksmith could repair it.

Putting the two pieces somewhere safe on her person, Marth took a few steps foreword, until, "Going somewhere?"

She looked behind her to find Chrom. "You have a bad habit of leaving without saying good-bye, you know," he told her.

"Yes," Marth replied, avoiding eye contact with him. "I'm afraid I have a few bad habits."

"But they are good ones," Chrom smiled. "You saved my life as well as both of my sisters. Is there any way I can repay you? Some favor I can grant?"

Marth smiled bittersweetly, "Hearing your offer is reward enough."

"Still, there must be something…"

"I already have what I came for; history has been rewritten."

"And what future was averted?" Chrom asked, his curiosity peeked.

"After the Exalt's untimely assassination, the Fire Emblem would be stolen," explained Marth. "This, in turn, would lead to a great war, and soon to the end of mankind itself." She shook her head, and tried to smile. "But I'm sure that sounds like madness to you."

"Strangely, no. It doesn't," Chrom replied in earnest. "Somehow I know I can trust you. And I hope someday to repay your favors."

"Perhaps," Marth said, turning on her heel. "One day you shall. Until then…"

And then Marth walked off until she disappeared into the night shadows.

* * *

There were a lot of things that needed to be sorted out. First of all, the hole in the wall that exposed the interior of the castle to the world. Second, and probably most importantly, figuring out who was behind this attack. Third, paying respects to Panne, something Emmeryn felt was the utmost important issue at hand. "Brave taguel," said Emmeryn. "There are not enough words to express my gratitude."

"So you know our true name?" Panne asked, unsure if she should have been impressed or not.

"I'm sorry," Anali spoke up as she stared at Panne, who stood more than a head taller than her. "But what's a taguel?"

"I am a taguel," replied Panne. Her eyes slowly closed in remorse. "The… The last taguel. We are shape-shifters."

Her eyes reopened with a slight hint of hate. "Most of your kind called us 'beast' or 'coney' in the midst of their hunt. I only helped you because my warren owes Ylisse a debt. Do not think us friends, you and I!"

Anali tried to make herself shrink. "I-I don't understand," she said meekly.

"Yes," Panne said with a slight smirk. "It's precious little your kind seem to understand. It was man-spawn like you that invaded our warren and slaughtered my people."

"What?!" Emmeryn's hands covered her mouth. "Is this true? Who would do such a thing?"

"Ha!" barked Panne. "Do not act so shocked. You are all the same. Right down to your base desire to ruin and destroy all you touch - even each other."

Anali wished she really could shrink at the taguel's words. Had humans really slaughtered her people? And Panne claimed to be the last of the taguel. Gods, how horrible. "There is truth in your words, perhaps," Emmeryn said slowly as she lowered her hands. "I was told that, in taguel society, everyone is treated as an equal. Mankind could have learned so much from your warren. The words may come too late and mean too little," Emmeryn lowered herself into a bow. "But I am so sorry. We have stolen your friends and family and made the world a lesser place."

"Your Grace!" Phila spoke up. "You had no fault in this!"

Panne kept her hand on one hip, and her expression was just as stony as ever. "You claim to be blameless, and yet you apologize? Your words are nothing but wind."

Traino gasped, "Now see here-"

"Traino, please," Emmeryn said, straightening herself. She kept her head lowered. "I know my words hold little meaning, but they are all I have."

There was a few minutes of silence. "You seem sincere, man-spawn," Panne said finally. "You feel my pain as your own… I've never felt that before." She held her arms out at her side. "Look at me. See what I am. I will never trust mankind. But you…" Slowly, Panne lowered her hands. "Perhaps you truly are not like the others."

"All I ask is a chance to earn your trust," said Emmeryn.

Behind the group, Frederick cleared his throat; there was a man with his cowl over his head, and a mask covering half his face behind him. "Forgive me, Your Grace," said Frederick. He gestured to the masked man at his side. "This gentleman claims to be able to shed some light on resent events."

* * *

Validar forced himself to keep going. His arm wrapped around his injury, but it was already too late; he had lost so much blood, and he was sure his lung was pierced. _"How?!" _he spat out, falling onto his knees. "My purpose is too significant… to be thwarted… here…"

He fell to the ground in a heap.

"Validar…" he heard. It was a smooth, sing-song voice, belonging to a woman. Slowly lifting his head, he could see the voice's owner, their face, however, remained hidden under their cowl.

"I am the power that compels you," the figure said as they walked closer. She crouched down in front of him. "You will not perish here, for it is not written. You must live on to author a destiny far greater than you could know."

The figures clothes… she was a follower too, that much was obvious. But how could she… no, no, no! This couldn't be!

The figure smiled, as though she had read his thoughts. "Yes," the figure said in a smooth voice. She stood up with her arms outstretched at her sides. "I am the wings of despair. I am the breath of ruin."

The figure paused, and lowered her cowl.

"I am the fell dragon, Grima."

* * *

By the time the palace was cleaned of all blood and bodies, the early lights of dawn were beginning to peek out over the horizon. Anali suggested that, for now, the hole the intruders made be blocked with sand bags until repairs could be properly done. The Shepherds were encouraged to sleep for a few hours. Lon'qu, being the former male rookie of the Shepherds, was left in charge of showing Gaius around, as Anali did the same for Panne.

Chrom returned inside to find the masked Assassin beside Frederick as they spoke with Emmeryn, Traino, and Phila. It was almost funny to see a man like this, given the whole situation with Marth. The difference was, Marth easily passed off as a pubescent boy, this Assassin was very clearly an adult male. "I don't suppose you already figured out who was behind this attack?" the man asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Given all the chaos Ylisse has been within the past few days, I'd say it was obvious."

"Plegia!" growled Chrom. He swiped one hand through the air as he spoke. "Of course it is! They'd do anything for the Emblem!"

"Keep your pantaloons on," the Assassin said through a sigh. "That doesn't mean Gangrel was the one behind it. Of course, that's not to say he wouldn't strike _eventually_."

"What, pray tell, are you yammering about?" Traino adjusted his glasses, his eyes narrowed as he stared at the Assassin.

"There's going to be another attack," said Chrom. He turned to Emmeryn. "Emm, you can't stay. Come with us to Ferox, where it's safe."

"And leave the people undefended?" Emmeryn asked, her tone was the closest to angry she could get. "War is at our borders, Chrom. Do you expect Ylisse to stand against Plegia without a leader? They must know their Exalt stands with them."

"But if something happens to you?" Chrom challenged. "What then?"

"If I may, Your Grace," Frederick spoke up before the siblings could go back and forth with each other. "Perhaps you might relocate to the Eastern palace for the time being? The other kingdoms know nothing of it. You would be safer."

"Yes, please," Chrom begged. "At the very least. I can't leave for Ferox with you right in harm's way."

Emmeryn thought about it for a moment. The Eastern palace was usually a home away from home, though no one had really been there in years. It was still in Ylissean territory, so she wouldn't have been leaving the country, per se. Nor was it that far away from Ylisstol, less than a day's travel really. Emmeryn had to agree it was a better idea than going or staying, if only reluctantly. "Very well," she said.

Sighing with relief, Chrom placed a hand on Emmeryn's shoulders. "Thanks, Emm," he said. "I mean it. We'll escort you to the palace before we head North."

"And take the Fire Emblem with you," the Assassin said, his arms still over his chest. "That was the real target to night. Do not let the Fire Emblem leave Ylissean hands. I mean it, there's a lot of things going on in Plegia and countless people waiting to get their hands on it, not just Gangrel."

"Why is this?" Emmeryn asked him kindly.

"Can't say."

"_Can't_ or you _won't_?" Chrom asked, his voice carried an edge to it.

"What do you think?" the Assassin asked in return. "One other thing I should mention. Something that might actually come as news; you've got yourselves a traitor amongst your numbers. And this traitor informed the mastermind of the attack when the Exalt would be asleep, and when the guards were switching so they could set off the explosion. Among other things to other people."

Chrom noticed that the air felt colder than usual. This man, who just waltzed right in, suggesting he slipped through the guards to speak to Frederick, was claiming of a traitor. Impossible, he knew none of his men would do such a thing. They were all good people who cared about Ylisse. "That's a bold statement there, my boy," Traino said, crossing his arms over his chest. "And you would make such a claim because…"

The masked man looked at the ground for a moment. "Because I'm a traitor amongst my numbers," he replied. He looked back up at Emmeryn. "So don't go thinking that I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart. I have my own reasons for this."

"All the same," said Emmeryn. "What information you are able to give is greatly appreciated."

The assassin left after that without much of a word.

Chrom found himself walking through the halls of the garrison, simply to calm his nerves. Naturally, after a long day, he was dead tired, but he could not find himself able to sit still. So he figured a relaxing stroll around the garrison would do him some good. "You're sure you don't need any more help?" he heard Anali ask.

She was inside the armory with Stahl and Kellam, after the latter two removed their suit's of armor. "Yes, yes, we're fine, Anali," replied Stahl. "Are you sure you're all right though?"

"Yeah, of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"Because it looks like you're trying to avoid going back to bed," said Kellam.

"What? No!" Anali replied, sounding offended. "I'm not some child trying to avoid their problems."

"We never said that," Kellam reassured her. "But you look kind of…"

"Forget it!" Anali snapped.

Chrom heard her stomp out of the armory, and down the hall. "What was that about?" he asked, deciding to make himself known.

"Captain," Kellam greeted. He rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced down at the floor. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough. Now, I ask again, what was that?"

"Well, I… I think Anali had a nightmare before the attack," Kellam confessed. "It's happened a couple of times, both of them left her pretty scared, when asked she tries to hide it. And Sully even mentioned that she thought Anali would've started crying this one time. I'm thinking it has something to do with her memories, since the first time it occurred was her first night here."

Chrom's brow furrowed. Well that certainly explained what Anali was doing up so late. What had gotten her so scared to keep her up? How long was she going to keep this up before she started to hurt herself? "And there's something else bothering her," Stahl added. "I noticed she spaced out for a bit during the attack. And there was this one moment where she just stared at this corpse like she was trying to recognize who he was or something."

That did not sound like Anali. "I'll go talk to her," Chrom told them. "See if I can't help."

"You sure, Captain?" Stahl asked. "I'm willing to help her as well."

"Me too," Kellam spoke up. "If she notices…"

The prince gave them a brief smile. "Thank you," he said. "But you've done more than enough. Please, try to get some sleep before we march."

Chrom was not quite sure why, but if something was bothering Anali _he_ wanted to be the one to help her. The _only one _to help her. Because she listened to his troubles? That had to be it, Chrom just wanted to return the favor.

He found Anali in the mess hall where a few cooks were already making breakfast for the Shepherds. From the smell in the air, Chrom had to guess it was cheese popovers. Something quick and easy to carry for the march. Anali was seated at one of the tables, her head in her hands, she looked like she was about to fall asleep at any moment. "Anali," said Chrom. Instantaneously, Anali's head popped up, the exhaustion on her face was obvious. "What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep," she lied. It was an obvious one, too.

Reaching out to her, Chrom grabbed Anali by the back of her coat and lead her out of the mess hall. She didn't fight against him, though she nearly stumbled a couple of times. It was only when they walked outside, did Chrom release her; she flattened out the back of her coat. "What were you doing up so late?" Chrom asked her. "Before the attack. What were you doing up?"

"I told you," Anali said, avoiding eye contact with him. "I couldn't-"

"Anali," he cut her off. "Look me in the eye and say that."

Seconds ticked by, and Anali still continued to keep her eyes off the prince. She hated this. She hated that Chrom was looking at her like she was being dissected. She hated being afraid of a silly little dream. She hated that her past was just a big blank. She hated that she didn't have answers.

"What am I supposed to say?" Anali said bitterly. "Ylisse's great tactician is afraid of a few night terrors?" She scoffed, "That will blow over well."

Chrom wasn't sure if he wanted to start laughing or not. Of all the things to worry about, what the others thought when someone was afraid seemed a little ridiculous. Especially when one considered Lissa's long list of phobias. "Anali," said Chrom, "given the situation, everyone would understand."

"'The situation' being my lack of memory," Anali crossed her arms. She chuckled to herself, darkly and without humor, as she shook her head. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe I was trying to lure you into a trap when you found me?"

A small smirk played up on Chrom's lips. "You're starting to sound a little like Frederick," he said.

"Well, maybe one of us should!" snapped Anali. "And it's clearly not going to be you."

"Anali, if I see someone hurt or in need, I'm going to help them. That's just who I am, and there's no changing it. Or would you rather I'd left you there, face down in the muck?"

"Of course not," Anali replied. Her voice was beginning to raise as she spoke, "But nothing about me seemed the _least_ bit suspicious? I-I could've been planning some trap for you and Lissa, I could be spilling secrets to Plegia, I could have killed that woman in Elrond!"

Chrom's brow furrowed when he heard this. "Who told you about Elrond?"

"Why didn't _you_ tell me?" asked Anali. She was beginning to get more and more frantic as she spoke. "If I am responsible for her death I should at least remeb-"

"Anali, do not go there!" Chrom snapped, his hands immediately grabbed her by the shoulders. "I don't know what happened to her, or what happened to you, but the two events are not connected."

"How can you be so sure?!" Anali snapped in return. "How do you know?"

"Because I know you."

_"No you don't!" _Anali shoved his hands off her. "_You_ don't know me, _no one _here knows me, _I_ don't know me! How long have I been here? Two, three months, and I still don't know anything about myself from before! I was probably one of the Grimleal! I could have been here to night, trying to kill Lady Emmeryn! I could have been trying to stir trouble between our countries! Whose to say that I wasn't?! Whose to say that I'm not… Th-That I didn't…"

Tears were beginning to swell in the corner of her eyes. Her hands trembled. "Chrom, who am I?" she asked finally, her voice shook like a leaf.

Placing his hands on her shoulders again, Chrom guided Anali into his chest, then wrapped his arms around her. "You are Anali," he said gently. "You are my friend, and a Shepherd. You're one of us, which mean's you have plenty of people who care to turn to when you're scared or confused, and no one will think of you any differently."

Anali's shoulders began to shake as her arms wrapped around Chrom. She sobbed into his chest, finally allowing everything she was keeping in flow out. Chrom remembered the day they first met, Anali had kept herself together quite well, despite her desperation to find something to remember and hold on to. But, he supposed this action was overdue. Long overdue.

There was a lot of evidence that suggested Anali shouldn't have been trusted. That she was responsible for the death of an innocent woman. But Chrom could say, with confidence, that Anali was not responsible, and worthy of his trust.

Because something's you just know.

* * *

**Authors Note: **I was foolish enough to think this chapter would be one of the shorter ones.

If Anali was going to have a breakdown, this chapter always seemed fitting to me for some reason. And we're getting closer to one of several chapters I've really been looking forward to writing… For better or worse.

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten  
Betrayal**

Even when they were on march, even when they were escorting the Exalt, there was no escape from Frederick's Fanatical Fitness Hour. When everyone gathered into the mess hall, and it was announced that they would be taking Emmeryn to the eastern castle before marching to Regna Ferox, Frederick also made the announcement, that everyone who did not usually have a mound would be walking on foot for endurance and stamina. At first, Anali did not mind, and actually thought it could be fun.

How wrong she was.

By mid-day, a few miles away from the eastern palace, Anali felt downright miserable. In her imagination, she entertained the thought of a random pegasus just swooping down and carrying her the rest of the way. Pegasus riding could not have been that different from horse riding, could it? And to think, Anali was a little apprehensive when it came to flying.

Never the less, Anali kept her complaints to herself. Lissa, on the other hand had little qualms when it came to voicing her complaints. "I've got blisters the size of eggs!" she whined.

"Oh, it's not so bad, Lissa," Chrom said, amused by his sisters antics. "Just a healthy little stroll. How are you holding up, Anali?"

'Healthy little stroll' her arse! "I think the bones in my legs disintegrated," Anali replied dully. "Your endurance astounds me."

Chrom chuckled at this, and asked, "Should I carry you, perhaps?"

Anali's face turned red immediately. How could he ask such a thing? Not only was it a bit inappropriate, given their positions in this army; Chrom was commander. He was supposed to be setting an example! "You can carry me!" Lissa exclaimed, her hand held in the air. "No, seriously, I would _really_ be okay with you carrying me."

"Milord," Frederick said, trotting up to the three. "Phila and Sumia have spotted something in the sky, headed our way."

Anali looked up behind them, sure enough there was something flying in their direction. From over head, Phila landed in front of them. "Peace, Sir Frederick," said Phila. "Sumia identified her as Cordelia."

"Cordelia?" asked Anali.

"One of my knights," the blue haired woman explained. "Young, yet quite gifted. But she was stationed on the border… Oh, gods!"

Phila's eyes turned skyward as Cordelia's Pegasus landed. Anali was shocked when she realized Cordelia was the same woman who played the harp for Chrom's birthday. Her beautiful dress was replaced with a tight, red and white dress that went down to her mid-thigh, and a polish breastplate. And her long red hair hung freely, aside from the two winged hair ornaments. "Your Grace! My prince!" Cordelia exclaimed as she dismounted her snowy white pegasus. "You must run, as far away as you can! Plegians are headed to Ylisstol as we speak! Not a days march!"

"Cordelia," said Phila. She dismounted her alicorn and approached Cordelia. "What are you doing here? Tell me the border remains secure!"

The Pegasus Knight bowed her head. "That I could, milady, but it would be false. Gangrel himself led his might against us! The end was upon us when my knight-sisters begged me to fly and warn the Exalt… I should have stayed with them… I should have stayed!" Cordelia cried. She pressed the palms of her hands against her ears as she sunk to her knees. "I can still hear their screams…"

"Peace, Cordelia," Phila crouched down and placed a hand on Cordelia's shoulder. "You did your duty. The sisters rightly prized your youth. You've many years yet to keep their legacy alive."

"But I abandoned them! I'm weak… Their legacy deserves better!"

"Sometimes fleeing takes the most courage," Phila said, reassuring her gently. "They knew that. Now pull yourself together. Let the faith they showed in you give you strength."

"Captain Phila," Cordelia choked out, wrecked with sobs. "How can I go on like this? They were my… my family… Oh, gods…"

Anali watched the scene play out with one hand over her mouth, fighting the need to cry for Cordelia and her sister-knights. It could not have been easy on either side. "Damn those monsters!" she heard Chrom curse under his breath.

"Your Grace," Traino said, bowing his head slightly. "We must return to the capital."

"Yes," Emmeryn replied with a nod. "At once."

"Your Grace," Phila said firmly. "I cannot advise-"

"Traino is right, Phila, I should have never left," the Exalt cut her off. "If it is discovered I'm away when this news comes to light.. The people would panic. Riot. More Ylisseans could needlessly die."

Without another word, Emmeryn took something out of her saddlebag. She slid off her horse, then approached Chrom with a shield, with a single stone in embedded in it, in her hands. "Here, Chrom," Emmeryn held the shield out to her. "I entrust this to you."

"The Fire Emblem?" Chrom questioned.

"Take it to Ferox - to safety."

"And leave you?" Chrom asked, refusing the Emblem. "No, Emm."

"No part of House Ylisse matters more than the Emblem," Emmeryn said, gently shoving the Emblem into Chrom's arms. "It possesses tremendous power. But too much blood has been shed over it already. I hope it finds a better guardian in you than it did me."

"Emm, come on!" Chrom snapped, tossing the Emblem into Anali's arms. She almost dropped it out of surprise. "You can't…" he shook his head. "Don't talk like that! You sound like you're ready to give up!"

"I am not giving up, Chrom," Emmeryn corrected kindly. "I am only giving what I can."

"Emm, please! This is madness!"

"Sis, wait!" Lissa spoke up, approaching her elder sister. "Let me go with you!"

"Stay with Chrom, Lissa," the Exalt said, placing a hand on Lissa's shoulder. "I command it."

Lissa shook her head, tears started to well up in her eyes. "This isn't fair!" she cried. "It's not fair! I know our people need you, but _we_ need you, too!"

Smiling slightly, Emmeryn cupped Lissa's face into her hands. "Dry your tears, love," she said, using the pads of her thumbs to wipe Lissa's eyes. "This is not good-bye."

"Your Grace," Phila stood straight with her hand behind her back. "I will accompany you back to Ylisstol."

"And I am always by your side," added Traino.

"Very well," Emmeryn smiled at her two greatest allies out side of her immediate family. "Thank you."

Frederick cleared his throat. "I will keep the prince and princess safe, Your Grace," he declared. "You have my word."

"I know you will, Frederick. Thank you."

"It is my honor."

"Cordelia," Phila turned to the red-head. Cordelia had calmed down slightly, but it was clear that her heart would be heavy, and her mind would be elsewhere for quite some time. "You will stay with Chrom."

"But, Captain-"

Phila placed a comforting hand on her shoulder again. "I know your heart is heavy, but this is how it must be," she told her. "Your knight-sisters will be with you in spirit, wherever you go."

Slowly, Cordelia nodded. "May they give me strength," she murmured. Straightening herself back up, Cordelia gave Phila a salute. "As you command, Captain. I will pray for your safety."

"Come, Phila," Emmeryn gestured, "we should be going."

"No!" Chrom shouted. He grabbed Emmeryn's hand before she could even approach her horse. "You don't have to go! This is absurd!"

"Chrom, you don't-"

"Walking to your own death will not bring peace to anyone!" snapped Chrom. "Ylisse needs you. We need you! Be selfish for once in your life!"

Emmeryn stared at him with a stoic expression. In some ways she was reminded of the little boy who could not quite understand what Emmeryn was trying to say in the early days of her reign. And in some ways, Chrom still did not understand. He would someday, but not yet. He was still in need of a little more time.

A small smile played upon her lips as Emmeryn reached up to tussle his hair the way she used to when they were younger. When Emmeryn was taller than him. "I love you, Chrom," she said in earnest. "Both you and Lissa are my everything. As for the peace I seek… you cannot see who it is for yet. I have to go. I'm sorry," she placed a hand over her heart, "truly I am. Let us embrace again in Ylisstol when you arrive with Feroxi reinforcements. I know you will come."

"This is a terrible plan," Chrom muttered, looking away from Emmeryn, and lowering his hand as he spoke.

"The blood of the first Exalt flows strong in us. You and I will keep Ylisse safe. I believe it with all my heart," said Emmeryn.

Anali was grateful when Frederick took the Emblem from her. Something that precious to Ylisse felt incredibly wrong in her hands, the hands of an outsider. Anali knew what she should have done was pull out her map and discuss their next course of action with Frederick. Instead, Anali sprinted towards the small herd of two horses and three pegasi. Emmeryn was still in discussion with Phila and Traino.

Anali took a deep breath in, steeling her courage before she started to second guess herself. "Milady." She started to wring her hands together when Emmeryn and Traino turned to look in Anali's direction. "C-can… At least bring some of us with you. I-it's not much but…"

'_Yes, keep talking, Anali,' _said a little voice in her head. _'You're just _brimming_ with confidence and charisma right now.'_

"You're right, it's not much." Emmeryn placed a hand on Anali's shoulder, causing her to tense up. "Which is all the more reason for me to politely refuse."

"But-!"

"You're a strategist, Anali. You must realize that one life lost compared to millions is a small price to pay."

Anali bit her lower lip. No lives lost was always the ideal goal, but realistically speaking, one life was better than the whole army. It was a fact that Anali didn't like, but it was something she was going to have to accept one way or another.

A sudden pat on the shoulder startled Anali. "But I can depart knowing Chrom and Lissa are in good hands." Emmeryn gave her a warm smile. "It's a little overdue, but you have my gratitude for your work last night. The way Chrom speaks of you, one would think you were his personal Goddess of Victory."

"Emph!" Anali bit harder on her lower lip as a blush formed on her cheeks. Chrom really talked like that?

"Please, excuse me," said Emmeryn. "We are both on a tight schedule. Time is of the essence."

In one graceful motion, Emmeryn pulled herself onto her horse, sitting sidesaddle and all. She nudged her horse with her heel, Phila and her two associates took off into the air while Traino stayed at Emmeryn's side.

* * *

Emmeryn's departure left Chrom looking out into space, which left them with little choice but to let Frederick and Anali take charge. Anali, always carrying a map whenever they were out on a march, looked it over with Frederick. He pointed out that there was a farm near by who specifically bread horses of Ylisse soldiers, and would be more than willing to let the Shepherds use a few on their way to Regna Ferox.

It was Anali's idea to split into two groups in hopes of drawing less attention. One lead by Chrom, the other lead by Anali. They would separate after getting the horses they needed, take two separate paths around the hills, and meet later the next day .

Anali was not quite sure how she felt about leading half the Shepherds as the group split up. Sure, she came up with strategies, but she never actually lead them. In fact, she was actually kind of worried that she would be a bit of a pushover as a leader.

So, they got the horses, and split their supplies into two, and the Shepherds traveled two separate paths. In Anali's group, was Cordelia, Panne, Gaius, Lon'qu, Vaike, Ricken, Kellam, and Miriel. And Lon'qu was the one who rode on horseback with her. Anali could tell that his body was tense, but he never said anything. "Are you nervous because I'm a woman, or because it's me specifically?" Anali asked after a while.

"Yes," replied Lon'qu.

"You're still mad about the fig thing?" she asked. "You gotta admit, I made a great first impression."

"No, I'm over that," growled Lon'qu. "But it's the fact that you continued your fruity assault during my early morning training!"

"Oh, yeah," Anali grinned at the memory. It was a couple of days after the return from Ferox. That time, however, Anali used grapes since Frederick more or less banned Anali from the figs. "Did anyone tell you, you train at ungodly hours?"

"You even snuck into my room, what if someone had seen you? Imagine what people would think."

"You worry too much." Anali waved her hand in dismissal. "See, human's are creatures of habit, and I know everyone's sleep schedule because of it. So I wasn't going to be caught."

With a furrowed brow, Lon'qu's jaw hung half open for a solid fifteen seconds. "I honestly can't decide if you're some genius or a common dimwit sometimes," he confessed dully.

"Well," Anali beamed with her pointer finger aimed skyward. "You gotta admit the silly girls are cuter than the clever ones."

The grunt Lon'qu let out suggested that he was less than impressed.

That night the group set up camp, with less people, there were less tents to set up, and less people to feed that night for dinner. And once camp had been set up, the Shepherds were off doing their own thing. Lon'qu, Gaius, and Vaike were sparring against each other, Ricken looked like he was busy writing a letter, and Miriel was reading. Cordelia stayed with her Pegasus, petting him on the nuzzle, and a little lost in thought. It was more or less unanimously agreed to give Cordelia her space right now.

And then there was Panne, who sat herself in the mess tent, even though Anali should not have been preparing dinner for a little while longer. Swallowing, Anali took in a deep breath before she approached the taguel. "Em… Panne?" she asked meekly.

"What?" Panne asked, making an effort to not sound snippy.

"I-I was just wondering if you could tell me more about the taguel?" Anali started to fiddle with her fingers. "I barely know a thing about them, and I though… I-I mean, if you don't mind…"

"I do not."

Anali nearly fell over when she heard this. "Really?"

Panne looked up at Anali. The taguel's expression was as stony as ever, but her eyes carried a particular glint to it that gave Anali goose bumps. "Why do you doubt me?"

"I-I don't know," Anali said, shifting her weight from side to side as she hugged herself with one arm. "I supposed I didn't think it would be this easy. I was ready to argue my case." She mumbled under her breath, "Kind of disappointed really, I thought it was a good one."

"Is it I who frightens you so, man-spawn? Or the fact that I am taguel?"

Anali held her hands up. "Neither! I-It's just… I thought you might not take kindly to me asking about your people. I know it was humans like me who killed them, so I thought…"

"Yes," Panne agreed with a slight nod. "Humans _like_ you. But _not _you. You do not bear the blame for what was done, so do not bear the guilt. Guilt creates distance. If you would learn of my people, cast it aside."

"All right." Anali smiled. She took a seat across the table from Panne.

The taguel smirked slightly. "At least you are calm," she said. "Your heart has slowed."

"You can hear my heartbeat?"

"Lesson one; taguel have strong ears," Panne explained. "A heart's beat always betrays its owner."

Panne went on to explain that she was still rather young when her people were slaughtered, so she could not tell Anali the social norms of the taguel. Everything Anali would learn was from Panne's personal experience.

The taguel could change from beast to humanoid at will, but only if they had their Beaststone with them. Panne had hers with her at all times in the pouch around her waist. In Panne's case, she could transform into a large rabbit, in both forms she had a similar biology to common garden rabbits. "So does that mean you can't have potato's or rhubarb?" asked Anali.

"That is correct," nodded Panne.

"You said your kind are shape-shifters, do all taguel turn into rabbits?"

"No. There were others, far from here. Tribes of cat-wearers and bird-wearers."

"I would have loved to see that!" Anali said thoughtfully. "They must have been so cute and cuddly!" She froze upon realizing she said that out loud. "S-Sorry, I probably shouldn't call a race of proud warriors 'cute.'"

"They were not cute," Panne said, resting her chin into one hand. "At least, not like the rabbit-wearers are cute. But then, what is?"

It took Anali a moment to realize that Panne was trying to make a joke. "Did you ever meet these tribes yourself?" asked Anali.

"Long ago," Panne said through a sigh. "How they fare now, I do not know. Perhaps they shared the same bloody fate of my people…"

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"No, there is no call for you to share in my gloom." Panne folded her hands over one another in front of her. "So, another question?"

Anali thought for a moment. How long had they been talking? From the lights that peeked through under the tent, Anali could see that the sun was beginning to set. "What do you like to eat?" she asked, finally.

"Taguel eat many things-"

"Oh, no," Anali cut her off. "I mean you, specifically. The split caused us to shift kitchen duty schedules, so I'm cooking tonight. I'll make whatever you want. Comfort food for bringing up sad thoughts."

Panne's brow rose. "You are…" her voice trailed as she searched for the right word. "Oddly kind."

"So, what'll it be?" Anali asked, rising to her feet. "Carrot soup?"

The taguel's brow rose once more. "How did you know?"

"Uh…" How was Anali supposed to explain that she was just joking?

Stay with the prince, Phila had told her, an order Cordelia intending on keeping. Yet, here she was, in a group separate from the prince. Okay, that wasn't fair. Separating the group into two was a good idea, and they specifically divided the group up so they would have one Pegasus Knight in each group.

And the other's left her alone with her thoughts since camp was set up. She appreciated that. Tomorrow, she would be in top form, but today, right now, Cordelia just needed time alone with her pegasus. And then the dinner bell rang. Even if Cordelia was not quite sure she could handle the Shepherd's camaraderie, she was starving.

So, giving her pegasus a healthy portion of feed, Cordelia made her way to the mess tent. Emerging from the men's tent, was a young man with orange hair. Gaius, if se wasn't mistaken, the thief who ultimately helped in the attack on the palace the previous night. Even though he was hired to kill the Exalt. However, he had earned Prince Chrom's trust, and therefore he would have Cordelia's.

Walking along side him, Cordelia couldn't help but wrinkle her nose. She could smell the perspiration coming off of him, and the grease in his hair almost lit up in what little light there was. Even his clothes were a little stained. Was Gaius really going to dinner like that? "Problem?" Gaius asked, pulling to a stop with his arms crossed over his chest.

Oh, damnation, he noticed her staring. "It's nothing," Cordelia said kindly. "Juuuust… don't you think it's a good idea to clean up before dinner?"

"Why?" Gaius asked in response. "I'm probably gonna spill something anyway. Why are you so interested? You fancy me or something?"

Cordelia told herself not to blush. She could tell Gaius was teasing, but still! "I was simply asking," she defended. "Perhaps you don't realize that you look and smell like the floor of a tavern!"

"Oh," Gaius uttered as he raised one eyebrow. "Haven't noticed, really."

Reaching over, Cordelia ran her fingers through Gaius' hair. Holding her hand up, she pointed at it with the opposite hand. "Look at that!" she exclaimed. "There's enough grease in your hair to fry an egg!"

"All right, all right," Gaius said dryly. "Message received. I'll clean up, Mother. _After_ eating."

The thief tried to drown out Cordelia's instructions as they both walked into the mess tent where a pot of carrot soup, and a plate of sandwiches were waiting. At the table, the others were already seated and eating their sandwiches. Lon'qu was scolding Miriel for almost walking off the campgrounds while reading, Anali had jumped in surprise when Kellam complimented her sandwiches. Vaike seemed to be trying to quiz Ricken on how the boy would counter what attack. And then there was Panne, who happily ate carrot soup. The sight was a little bittersweet. But a sight Cordelia would have to adjust to if she was to stick around.

The red haired Pegasus Knight prepared herself a bowl of carrot soup, and an egg salad sandwich. Cordelia seated herself between Miriel and Vaike, and took a spoonful of soup. She grimaced at the taste. Was she correct in labeling it as carrot soup? It certainly did not taste like carrots… okay, there was a carroty aftertaste. This was more 'dishwater,' than 'vegetable.' No wonder the others were only eating the sandwiches.

Gaius, on the other hand, was more vocal about his distaste for the soup. His shoulder's shook, and he groaned as he swallowed. "Okay," Gaius said, dropping his spoon onto the table. "Who made this?"

All human eyes glanced at Anali, who slowly raised her hand. The poor girl's face was turning red, and her opposite hand began stirring her spoon around in her bowl. "You sure you made this with carrots?" Gaius asked, gesturing to his bowl.

"Yes," Anali replied. "Chopped them up myself."

"You had to have spilt something in here… kerosene maybe."

Huh, Cordelia could have sworn it was soap she was tasting.

Vaike nearly fell over laughing. "You think that's bad?" he asked. "You shoulda tried Anali's beef stew."

"It wasn't that bad!" cried Anali.

"If I'm not mistaken," Miriel spoke up. "The beef in said stew was terribly undercooked."

"And the stew was more of a porridge," added Kellam.

"What are you talking about?" Panne asked, looking up at the others with the most serious expression. "I cannot remember the last time I had carrot soup this wonderful."

Anali buried her face in her hands. "I'm sorry," she said, muffled through her hands. "I wanted to make you something after you- Wait, what?"

"Yes." Panne abandoned her spoon altogether and took the bowl into her hands. "This is probably the best meal I've had in ages. Is there more?"

Glances were exchanged. So, the only non-human at this table liked Anali's cooking. She was not quite sure how to feel about that. The sandwiches were eaten, and even with Panne's liking for Anali's soup, they still had a couple of bottles worth leftover.

Curfew was within an hour and a-half after dinner. And, while Gaius was not quite sure how he felt about it, Cordelia was onto something when she criticized the way Gaius presented himself. He wasn't about to say she was right, as Gaius always lived that way, and, well, why fix what wasn't broken? But it did make him consider one thing, if he was going to be sticking around with these folks for a while, why not take advantage of their perks?

Although Cordelia was right about one little thing; his hair was disgustingly greasy. And now, he had an easy way to remedy that. The bath tent was mixed, due to the Shepherds separation, but there was so few of them it was easy for the men to avoid peeping on those of the fairer sex on accident.

Gaius had gotten his bath ready with little problems. He had just finished lathering his hair and body, ready to rinse when he heard the high-pitched, "Eep!"

He looked over his shoulder to find a very red-faced Anali. Immediately, her hand covered her eyes, either to keep her from seeing anymore than she already had, or just to face palm. "Sorry, sorry, sorry!" she muttered furiously as she walked backwards, out of the tent. "Sorry-sorry-sorry-sorry!"

And she was gone just as quickly as she entered. Well that happened. Okay, so maybe one bathing tent with so few people wasn't a good idea; but Gaius did not mind that much. It was an accident, accidents happened. And Anali was hardly the kind of person to intentionally peek, going by the look on her face when Chrom teased her earlier that day. Anali was most definitely the type to get flustered easily.

While Gaius was able to clean his hair and birthday suit, there wasn't much he could do about his clothing. He only had one pair. But, they were in the early days of war, so perhaps Gaius could get away with the 'ruggedly handsome' look.

Gaius was double-checking his pockets as he exited the tent, fully dressed, making sure his candy supply was safe and sound. Satisfied, he looked up to find Anali standing just outside the bathing tent. Had she been waiting there since she left? "Gaius, I am so sorry about that!" she said immediately. Her face still bore the blush she had on earlier. "I swear, I didn't know you where in there already…"

"Aw, no worries." Gaius waved it off. As far as he was concerned the issue was over and done with. "At least I had my back to you, eh? But, uh, I'd would like to assure you I am in pretty good shape. A real piece of eye candy. Belly like a washboard, glutes like a lumberjac-"

_"OKAY!" _Anali clapped her hands together as she put on a very forced smile. "I will take your word for it." Her brow knitted together as she laced her fingers, minus the index ones. "Although, I did notice something… and it does have me a little concerned. That tattoo on your arm… I saw five numbers… It's the one they use to mark convicted criminals, isn't it? I mean I've heard about it, but never actually saw one…"

"Yeah." Gaius shrugged with one shoulder. "Got caught once doing a favor for a mate. Paid the price. Pretty straight forward." He winced slightly as though he just remembered something. "Though I'd appreciate it if you kept that little nugget under your cap, Bubbles."

Crossing her arms, Anali smiled slightly. "Don't wor- Did you just call me Bubbles?" she asked. Quickly, she shook her head. "Never mind. I won't tell any-"

"You'll tell everyone, you say?" Gaius cut her off; he placed his hands on his hips. "So it's to be blackmail, is it?"

"I literally said nothing of the sort."

"Fine then. I can understand taking an opportunity to line your pockets."

"Oh, do you?"

"You can have my portion of dinner tomorrow night, okay? Will that slake your greed for now?!"

"One helping is already more than enough, thanks," Anali said holding her hands out in front of her. "And I already said I'm not blackma-"

"You drive a hard bargain, Bubbles," Gaius said, reaching one arm behind his back. "Very well. Take this custard pie!"

In a flash, and with a flutter of his cloak, Gaius whipped out a perfectly intact chocolate custard pie. "I'm more concerned about where you were keeping that!" exclaimed Anali.

"If you 're looking for ransom, I can assure you I don't have any money."

"Gaius…"

"But what I do have are a very particular set of honey cakes…"

"I already said I'd keep your damned secret!" Anali said, turning on her heel. "I just came to apologize so I could sleep with a clear conscience, not to make some one-sided negotiations."

But Gaius kept following her around camp, offering her chocolate to 'put her in a better mood,' until she announced for lights out.

* * *

They knew.

They knew Emmeryn was supposed to be leaving, and they knew the Shepherds would not be in Ylisstol either way. Even if Captain Phila knew about the attack, thanks to Cordelia, they were vastly outnumbered, and Regan was still a trainee, she never experienced real battle before. Maybe that was why Captain Phila ordered her to ready the horses and pegasi instead of readying a weapon.

But she could not just wait around after that. So, Regan grabbed herself a lance, and started fighting against Plegian forces on foot. She wanted to defend Lady Emmeryn, that was why she became a Pegasus Knight in the first place, despite going against the wishes of her grandfather. The last conflict with Plegia left her grandfather so bitter towards the royal family Regan had hardly spoken with him since she first left home. Her mother was a little more understanding, however she wasn't pleased at first either, since the last war took Regan's father from her when she was but a babe.

Regan charged in, her lance at the ready, skewering it through as many Plegian units as she could. The Mages and Archers were the easy ones, they usually attacked from a safe distance. Regan did not come across any trouble until she stupidly thought she could battle against a Warrior.

She was playing on the defense, using her lance to block the man's axe each time he brought it down. But each strike took a toll on Regan's only means of defense. There was a crack beginning to form, and it was steadily growing. She needed to think of something, fast.

The Warrior brought his axe down once more, blocked by Regan's lance. That was it. The lance split in two. Quickly, Regan slipped to the side, dodging the second attack, she quickly plunged half of the lance, the half that could actually do damage, into the man's side. He shouted a profanity before he swung his axe forward, cutting into Regan's side. The Warrior grabbed Regan by her tunic, and slammed her back into the wall.

Gods, please let it be swift.

The Warrior suddenly released her, and Regan slid onto the floor. His eyes almost budged out of his skull, blood slowly seeped out of his mouth. He slumped over, revealing Phila, her own lance at her side, standing behind him.

"Captain!" Regan gasped.

Phila looked a little worse for wear. Her bun was beginning to come undone, there was a thin cut on her cheek, and a bruise forming around her eye. Wordlessly, Phila grabbed Regan by the arm and pulled her foreword. Things must have been worse off than Regan originally thought. Why wasn't Phila with Lady Emmeryn?

"Regan, you need to get out of here, that's an order!" Phila instructed her. "Go to Regna Ferox, inform the Prince and the Khans about what's happened."

"But Captain!"

"Don't argue, just do it! Take one of the training pagasi and fly straight to Ferox, tell them Ylisstol has fallen."

"Captain…"

With one last, "Go!" Phila shoved Regan down the hall. She ran, with her thoughts running even faster. Was this right? Was it right to just run while the rest of Ylisstol was thrown into chaos? She heard about the squad at the border, how only one had survived because the others encouraged her to flee. Was this the same thing?

Why were the gods being so cruel now?

Elaine was never much of a fighter, she always had a healing touch. So she felt downright useless right now. Ylissean soldiers needed more manpower, not a healer who did not even have her supplies on her. So Elaine just ran across the palace, like the village idiot, trying to find a healing staff, some potions or vulnerary, anything.

Her boots squeaked against the floor when Elaine pulled to a sudden stop. The thin light of the slightly open door caught her attention. If she remembered correctly, it was a suite usually reserved for political guests, finely furnished, and a shelf packed with books. Slowly, Elaine approached the door, and peeked inside.

Four people stood inside, Lady Emmeryn, the Hierarch Traino, and, surprisingly enough, King Gangrel, and one of his soldiers. If Lady Emmeryn was afraid, she hid it well. So did Traino. Should Elaine find someone? Where was Phila?

"Oooh! I just love this kind of irony!" Gangrel said clapping his hands together. "The one to bring down House Ylisse was one of their most trusted allies! It's the oldest trick in the book, but so satisfying to watch a persons faith be utterly shattered!"

What?

That was enough to break Emmeryn's stony expression. Bowing her head slightly, Emmeryn squeezed her eyes shut. With her brow furrowed together, Elaine would have sworn Emmeryn had started crying. "Traino…" she whispered.

In a flash, the Hierarch struck Lady Emmeryn across her face. Elaine had to cover her mouth to keep herself from gasping. Emmeryn simply held her face, soothing the stinging skin, and straighten herself up. The hurt on her face was obvious, and it was not from the physical pain of Traino's strike. "Fifteen years!" Traino growled through his teeth. "Fifteen years of waiting! Waiting for this moment, waiting for the end of House Ylisse!"

"But why?" was all Emmeryn could ask. "You were a dear friend, Traino. A part of the family."

"And what about _my_ family?!" Traino roared. His eyes could have caught fire in that moment of rage. "I should be living on the countryside with my wife, spoiling our grandchildren by now. I should _never_ have outlived my sons!"

Stepping back, Traino removed his glasses, and whipped his eyes with his sleeve. "And yet I have," he muttered, placing his glasses back on. "And for what, exactly?"

Emmeryn allowed the tears to flow out of her eyes. It was no secret that Traino was a widower, and that he lost both of his sons in the war fifteen years ago. And Emmeryn had always thought that they were his reason for aiding House Ylisse all these years. To prevent history from repeating itself; to have their deaths mean something. "I had no idea your pain ran so deep," Emmeryn said softly. "I am sorry for not noticing."

"And there it is," Gangrel said tossing his arm forward. "The oh-so fragile bleeding heart of yours. We'll see how much it bleeds in front of the thousands!"

No!

"So long as I get a front row seat," said Traino.

"Pah!" Gangrel spat, glaring at Ylisse's former Hierarch. "You say that after the little stunt last night? You'll be lucky if you're even there to witness the event."

Traino glared in return. "I made it clear a long time ago that I work with anyone who ends the royal line. So why are you surprised?"

Elaine screamed when she felt someone grab her roughly by the arm and forced it behind her back. The attacker swung the door open. "Sire," the soldier declared, "got yourself a little spy."

She heard Lady Emmeryn gasp her name as Elaine struggled against her captors grip. Grinning, Gangrel crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, you know what we like to do with spies. I always thought medics should know when to keep their noses out of people business."

Instantly, Emmeryn whipped around and yanked a red book off the shelf. Traino shouted for someone to stop her, but Lady Emmeryn already snapped the book open. "Did you think we wouldn't stash tomes where we could?" asked Emmeryn.

She extended her hand, red ruins appeared around the tip of her fingers. A ball of fire shot forward, straight at Elaine's captor. The fire landed in front of the door-frame. Not close enough to burn either the soldier or Elaine, but enough to startle them both. "Elaine, run!" shouted Emmeryn. "Go! Save yourself!"

Elaine had just enough time to see Traino rip the tome from Lady Emmeryn's hands before he struck her again her again. Elaine ran, feeling like a dog with her tail between her legs all the while. "Don't just stand there, you idiot!" she heard King Gangrel bark. "Get her! And I want no survivors tonight!"

She allowed the tears to slip out of her eyes. This was far beyond Elaine's comfort zone and expertise. Hadn't someone instructed her on what to do in a situation like this? Of course they had to, but Elaine could not remember. Did it matter anymore? It was a hopeless situation. Maybe she should go to Regna Ferox, inform the Prince and Princess about what's happened.

It may have very well been a suicide mission, but it was something. Desperately, Elaine tried to map out an exit route in her mind. If she could make it to the garrison, if she could make it to the stable, there had to be at least one horse she could use. One horse that could carry her to Ferox.

Elaine almost tripped halfway down the flight of stairs. She caught herself at the foot of the flight, but she still ended up on her knees. "Elaine!" she heard.

Regan ran up to her, and helped her onto her feet. Immediately, Elaine threw herself over Regan, allowing a few sobs to escape. Briefly, Regan rubbed her back, then held her at arms length. "We have to go," Regan said curtly. "I'm headed to Regna Ferox, come with me, we'll go together."

Drying her eyes with the heel of her hand, Elaine nodded. She liked this better than her original idea, at least now there was someone with her.

Regan lead the way to the stables, where they kept the young horses. The horses that were assigned to trainees, given they did not already have one. They trained along side their riders. Quickly, Regan readied her own pegasus, not bothering with the saddle. Regan lead the stallion out of the stable and helped Elaine on behind her. She nudged the pegasus with her heel, he galloped for a few moments before he unfurled his wings, and flapped, taking off into the night air.

Elaine looked over her shoulder, there were fires coming from the palace, and the village. Cries echoed in the air. It was awful. How many people were dying right now. Then Elaine could see three dark figures soar into the air, followed by three glimmers of light that traveled on foot. Of course they were. Gangrel said no survivors, she heard it herself.

Two pegasus riders were ganging up on them, one of them carried a tome in their hands. Keeping her eyes on the pair, the rider opened her tome. "Regan!" Elaine shrieked without thinking.

Regan looked over her shoulder to see the Elfire spell hurtling in their direction. Quickly, Regan forced her Pegasus to turn around, and she took the full force of the spell. Elaine's mouth opened to scream, but no sound came out. Regan, bless her, somehow hung in there, Elaine knew arrows and magic were the strongest against flying mounts, especially wind magic. So maybe it was a blessing that this rider used fire.

That was what Elaine thought, until the second rider threw her javelin. It embedded itself between Regan's chest and solar plexus. Her eyes rolled back in her head, then Regan slumped off her Pegasus. Elaine grabbed onto her friends arm, and plummeted with her. Icy wind bit at Elaine's cheeks; she wrapped her arms around Regan, holding her close to her body. But she was forced to let go when they landed.

Elaine's side cried out in pain, but, miraculously, nothing was broken. She would be soar, no doubt, but it was better than the alternative of broken or dead. Maybe she and Regan would have a good laugh about this later.

Regan!

Elaine forced herself onto her hands and knees. Regan laid a few feet beside her; Elaine could see blood pooling out around her. Quickly, Elaine crawled to Regan's side. She collected Regan's upper body into her arms, and shook her lightly. "Regan," Elaine said, her voice shaking. "Regan… Regan come on… We gotta go…"

She was fooling herself, she knew that. The javelin was still protruding out of Regan's body, her arms were burned, and she was already wounded before they even set out. There was a blood stain around the wound, and blood that spilled out of her mouth. Elaine was pretty sure Regan was not breathing anymore. She was probably gone before they hit the ground.

Elaine's shoulders shook; she hugged Regan's body close to her, praying that she would just wake up from this awful nightmare. She hiccupped on a few sobs as the tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

Her eyes snapped open when she heard voices in the near-distance. It was the three others that were following on foot. The assassins were sprinting in her direction. Still. They were still after them, even after Regan had been shot out of the sky.

Of course they were. They were checking for stragglers.

An arrow whizzed out of the trees, striking one of the Assassins in the temple. The man stopped, abruptly, fell to his knees, and keeled over dead. One of the remaining two shouted, "Show yourself!"

He got his wish as a fourth Assassin leapt out of the trees. He was dressed similarly to the others, an Assassin in Plegia colors. The biggest difference was the mask that covered the lower half of his face. He dodged the oncoming sword from one of the remaining two, and kneed him in the gut. The masked man pulled out his sword, and plunged it into the back as the other Assassin was bent over double.

The final one was not about to go down without a fight. He crossed swords with Elaine's…. Savior? Murderer? He tried a similar trick as the masked man, by kneeing him in the gut. The masked man bent over, gripping his stomach with one hand. In a flash he threw his head up, hitting the last Assassin in the nose as he bent over to stab him.

He must have broken it, considering the blood that flowed out. That was when the masked man pushed his sword into his opponents foot. The opponent screamed, which was cut off when the masked man punched his opponent in the throat. Then the masked man pulled his sword out from both, the ground, and his opponents foot, and thrusted it into his gut. Pulling it back out, the masked man swiped his sword through the air once, ridding it of blood, and slid it back into it's sheath, seemingly unaware that the opposing assassin fell over dead.

He turned his head to Elaine, who held onto Regan. "Don't come any closer!" she forced out.

Silently, the masked man walked up to Elaine and, as gently as possible, forced her to let go of Regan. "Come on," he said as he did. "We need to get you to Ferox."

Elaine was not quite sure why she followed when the masked man pulled her onto her feet. Or why she followed him a few miles on foot to a horse he had tied to a tree. The masked man helped Elaine onto the horse, before he went to untie it and mount the beast himself. Behind his mask, he clicked his tongue and the horse took off into a gallop.

Wrapping her arms around the masked man, Elaine sobbed into his back.

* * *

By the time Anali and the others arrived at Regna Ferox, Chrom's group had been there for at least two hours. Raimi met them at the border, and, having already been informed that the Shepherds had split into two, escorted them to castle Ferox. Not counting Raimi, the first person Anali saw was Frederick, who requested to know the details after they parted. "Not much," Anali replied with a shrug. "Yesterday was smooth, this morning we came across a horde of Risen, but we managed to sneak by. Helped a merchant when her wagon lost a wheel, and then we arrived here."

What Anali didn't include was the fact that they bought something from the merchant. At first she mistook her as the merchant who sold Anali her ocarina. She looked just like that one merchant. Same face, same red hair, same eyes. But the merchant claimed that it must have been her sister.

"What about you?" Anali asked Frederick. "Are Chrom and Lissa okay?"

"As they can be," Frederick said through a sigh. "To her credit, milady tried to distract herself a with little needlework with Lady Maribelle last night. It worked, to a point."

"And Chrom?"

"Milord should not do any training when distracted. Our half of the armory has taken some heavy damage."

Anali's brow knitted together, she tried to decide if Frederick was joking or not. "Lady Sumia was able to cheer him up a little with the dinner she made, however," Frederick finished, seemingly oblivious to Anali's expression.

"Aw, it would've been her turn for kitchen duty last night?" Anali asked disappointed.

Sumia's pies, for meals proper, or dessert are semi-famous amongst the Shepherds. What had she made last night; a meat pie or her little potato, beef and corn concoction? "Um…" she fiddled with a tendril of hair that fell over her shoulder. "Where is Chrom and Flavia? I should discuss strategy with them."

"Milord is inside waiting for you. Shall I-"

"No thanks, I can find my way, I'm sure."

Anali half-jogged her way through the castle. Once more, she found herself longing for the warmth of Ylisstol palace. It may have reflected Feroxi culture, and stood against the elements, but it seemed so barren. Like a prison more than a home.

"Anali!" she heard.

Before she could react, Sumia barreled into her, jumping into an embrace. Or maybe she tripped somewhere down the road. "You're okay?" Sumia asked when she pulled apart. "No problems?"

Anali shrugged. "We helped a merchant with her wagon, but other than that it was pretty standard. I was looking for Chrom and Flavia."

"I don't know about Khan Flavia," Sumia said, taking Anali by the hand. "But I do know where Chrom and Lissa are."

She allowed Sumia to lead her down the hall to a large room with long tables lined up neatly. It was probably a mess hall of sorts, probably used for celebrations. Lissa was looking up at Chrom, her eyes wide, but not quite crying. Anali thought she was pacing around the room just before they came in. "We'll make it home before anything happens, right?" she asked him. "Right?"

Sumia looked over her shoulder at Anali. The message was clear, they had not received any news from Ylisstol yet. Poor Lissa, not knowing what was going on must have drove her crazy. Of course she tried to distract herself last night. "Chrom?" Lissa asked when her brother did not answer. Both Anali and Sumia stood beside the princess. "Say something! Like, 'Yes, of course we will!'"

It was a little funny when Lissa said that, as she was trying to mimic Chrom's voice, if not for the situation. And the fact that Chrom seemed lost in his own head. "I'm sorry, what?" he asked, coming, somewhat, out of his stupor. "Did you say something, Lissa?"

Groaning, Lissa angrily crossed her arms. "Never mind!" she snapped. "Let me know when you get out of your own head for a second!"

Grimacing slightly, Chrom glanced to the side. With a furrowed brow, Sumia strode up to the prince. "Snap out of it Captain!" she exclaimed.

Then she punched him.

In the face.

Anali's hands slapped themselves over her mouth to keep herself from laughing. She had no idea where that had come from, it being Sumia, but it was so out of character, it was downright funny. Oh, gods, Sumia was still in her armor, so she still had her gauntlets on! Chrom gripped the side of his face where Sumia had hit him. "What the hell was that for?!" he exclaimed, his voice almost hitting a falsetto.

"Oh no!" Sumia gasped. She held her hands just inches away from her face. "Did I do it wrong? Captain Phila says that a good slap can break people out of their doldrums."

"Yeah, a _slap_," said Lissa. "When you slap someone, it's with an open palm."

"You just punched Chrom in the face!" Anali said through her laughter.

Sumia's brown eyes widened as she blushed. "Um… It's the thought that counts?"

"Gods," Chrom spat out, "that seriously hurt…"

"What's wrong, my dear prince?" said Flavia. Apparently the Khan had seen the whole thing, and was just making herself known. "Sometimes love hurts. You're lucky to have strong women like these, and not just dainty flowers about."

With a broad smile, Flavia crossed her arms over her chest, and leaned to the side slightly. "In any case," she continued. "I bring good news. The Feroxi army has finally mobilized. Every last man is itching for a fight. I must say, I'm looking forward to savoring a skirmish or two myself."

Chrom was staring at Flavia as though she had just turned purple. "Wait, you're coming along?" he asked.

"Of course! A Khan must have her fun. I'm even bringing my insignificant other."

Blinking, Anali played the phrase over in her head a couple of times. "Your who?" she asked finally.

"Basilio," answered Flavia. She shrugged as she continued, "Oaf isn't good for much, but he might stop a few stray arrows."

"Khan Flavia," said a new voice. A Feroxi soldier stood in the doorway of the room. "Khan Basilio sent me, he's in the main hall. We've received news from Ylisstol."

Lissa looked like she was both joyful and terrified. "Right," Flavia gave a curt nod. "We'll be right there."

"Sumia," Chrom spoke up, turning to the Pegasus Knight. "Can you tell Frederick that we just received news, and we'll be with him shortly."

"Of course, Captain!" Sumia said, giving Chrom a salute.

She slipped by Flavia and disappeared behind the door. Lissa half-jogged behind Flavia while Anali walked beside Chrom. She still had a slight smile on her face after Sumia's little punch. "It's not funny, Anali," she heard Chrom said, just low enough for her to hear him.

"Coming from Sumia, yeah, it's _kinda_ funny," Anali replied. She could almost hear the smirk on Chrom's lips.

In the main hall stood Khan Basilio, with a shorter figure at his side. As they walked closer, Anali could see that the figure had on a thick cloak, but she could see the short sandy colored hair, and green eyes. "Elaine?!" gasped Anali.

"Chrom," Basilio said as soon as he saw the group. "Good gods, I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Is something wrong?" asked Chrom.

Basilio placed a hand on Elaine's shoulder, but she hardly seemed to notice or care. "We found this lass outside the border, came all the way from Ylisstol with some bloke in a mask," he explained. He shook his head slightly. "She brings some dark news, I'm afraid. Ylisstol has fallen."

Lissa's hands flew to her mouth. "What?!"

"Your Hierarch's been feeding Plegia information, they knew you wouldn't be there when they captured your Exalt. Gangrel has declared she's to be publicly executed."

"E-Executed?!" Chrom repeated.

Lissa let out the weakest gasp before she fell backwards into a dead faint. "Whoa, Lissa!" Anali gasped, catching her by the shoulders.

"You're sure about this?" asked Chrom.

"I heard it myself," Elaine said, her voice shaking. Fresh tears were beginning to pool up in her eyes.

Flavia scoffed, "Dastard's not even trying to be subtle anymore."

"Agreed," said Anali. "It's an obvious trap."

Basilio nodded briefly in agreement. "We should consider our options carefully before jumping to any-"

"We're marching to Plegia!" Chrom shouted, cutting off Basilio.

"Yes," the Khan said, clearing his throat. "Well, that would be one option. But perhaps we've seen enough royalty getting themselves into trouble for one war, eh?"

"I don't care if it's a trap!" snapped Chrom. Venom dripped from his words. "He's going to murder my sister!"

Elaine's body trembled from under the cloak. She hiccupped on a few quiet sobs. Anali bit her lip, what Elaine had to have gone through to get here. And then there was Chrom. He was acting less like the leader of a militia, and more like a desperate brother. "Peace, Chrom. Breathe a moment," Flavia said calmly, with one hand on his shoulder. "No one's saying we don't act. We're simply saying we should act wisely. We'll need guts and wits in equal measure if we're to save your sister."

"The Khans are right," Anali said under her breath. She spoke again, louder this time, "I'll think of something, Chrom. I promise."

Chrom's shoulders relaxed at this. "All right, Anali," he said slowly. "I'll leave it to you."

"Are you certain you're up for the task, Anali?" Flavia asked her. "It won't be easy. You hold the Exalt's life in one hand, and all of ours in the other."

She knew that. This will be the true test of her abilities, really. This was something that Anali could not, under any circumstances, screw up on. If something went wrong, not only would it cost the Exalt her life, but Chrom and Lissa would loose their sister. And, possibly their own lives well. "I-It's not a responsibility I take lightly," Anali said, hoping her voice wasn't shaking. If she was afraid already, how could her plans work? "But I am equal to the challenge."

Flavia's shoulders shook as she laughed. "You've got stones, at least," she said, clapping Anali on the back, prompting a strained 'ow,' from her. "I like that!"

"No hesitation, no mincing words," Basilio said thoughtfully. A broad smile slowly appeared on his face as he spoke, "She's either a genius or a fool! I suppose we'll find out once we march."

Anali willed her expression to harden as the wheels in her head began to turn. No stone could go unturned, and if she could help it, nothing would.

* * *

**Authors Note: **So, I woke up this morning to find the trailer for a new Fire Emblem game. Therefore to celebrate, here's a second chapter this week. This is going to totally throw off my schedule, but…

There's actually a bit I want to say about Traino, but it's almost a pages worth, so I'll post it on tumblr. I just always hesitated to call him an OC because I just expanded on an element was already there. In the game the Hierarch pretty much fell out of the sky, and he disappeared as quickly as he came.

Also, I realize that if I wanted to be clever, Elaine, the one we've seen more than Regan, would have been the one to die. But, since I made Regan a Pegasus Knight she would've been Cordelia 2.0. Even with Elaine she does pose a bit of a risk of being too much like Cordelia. But, really, I only made Regan so I could get Elaine out of Ylisstol.

There are a couple of links on my homepage to images of Anali and Elaine if anyone's interested.

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven  
Emmeryn**

Lissa woke up from her fainting spell reassured that Anali was formulating a plan to rescue Emmeryn, she just needed a little more information. So, Khan Basilio sent out a few scouts to gather what news they could. If Anali was on it, then there was nothing to worry about. Still, Lissa was beginning to feel restless.

So she picked up the needlework from the previous night, deciding to work on it a bit more before dinner. To her, it was coming together quite… well, it was coming together. Just loop the thread and… The prick was enough to warrant a high-pitched shrill through her teeth. "You all right there, Princess?" she heard an urgent voice say. Gaius poked his head into her tent. "What's going on? You sound like you stepped on a cats tail."

"I'm trying to learn needlework!" She wove her creation in the air to further emphasize her point. "But I'm mostly just poking holes in my dumb fingers."

"You should really wash and dress those wounds, you know," the thief informed her. He crossed his arms over his chest as though to add further emphasis.

Lissa shook it off. "Yeah, whatever. They're just pinpricks. See?" She held up both hands, fingers stretched out, to show him. "Hardly bleeding at all."

"Small wounds can become infected just as easily as the large ones." With a kick of the ankle Gaius brought up an empty crate and sat himself down in it. Comfortable he took one of Lissa's hands into his own. "Here, Princess. Let me take a look…"

"_Fine!_ If you're going to be all stubborn about it," sighed Lissa. She rested her chin into her opposite hand. "Just stop calling me 'Princess.' It almost sounds sarcastic when you say it."

"Just a friendly nickname, is all," Gaius assured her. "I give 'em to everyone."

"Yeah, well, I bet you didn't give Chrom a nickname, did you?" Lissa accused.

"Hard to do that when I've hardly spoke to the guy."

"It's so unfair. He risks life and limb everyday. But me? _Noooooo! _People hover around me if I have so much as a sewing accident!"

Gaius reached over for the medical supplies Lissa had by her bedside. "If it makes you feel better," he said, "this is the worst sewing accident I've seen."

He let out a slight huff of air in approvement when he finally found the bandage roll. He lengthened it out a bit before he started to dress it around Lissa's hand. She definitely had the hands of a princess, still soft without a blister or callus. "Gods," sighed Lissa. "You'd think I was made of glass or something." She winced. "Easy with the bandages there! My hand looks like a grapefruit!"

"You pierced a vein, Princess," Gaius told her bluntly. "Lucky it wasn't worse."

Sitting back, Lissa grumbled a few things under her breath while Gaius finished dressing her hand. Once he finished, he put the roll back where he found it, then reached out to grab Lissa's needlework. "Lemme see what you're sewing there!" he said, hoping to cheer her up. However, one look at the thing and Gaius found himself utterly stumped. "Oh. It's, uh… it looks like… a three-legged ogre? No, no, wait! I know this! A whalefish eating a sailor, right?"

"It's a kitty cat…" mumbled Lissa.

Immediately, Gaius turned it upside-down. "I guess if you turn it this way…"

The blonde snatched her needlework back. "It's not done yet!"

She let out a brief yelp in protest when Gaius took the project back from her. "Why don't you try lengthening this…" Instantly, with the needle in hand Gaius added a few stitches. "And… there we go!"

The embroidery looked better now. Not something Lissa could sell at a fair, but you could tell it was supposed to be a cat now. "Holy wow, Gaius!" Lissa gasped, taking it into her hands. "That's amazing! I didn't know you could sew!"

"I've always had nimble fingers," he said. He playfully wiggled his fingers for further emphasis. "Kinda a necessity in my trade."

"Um…" Lissa fiddled with the tip of one of her pigtails. "Thanks. I guess. Can you show me how you did that?"

"Eh, perhaps you ought to take up a safer hobby. Like jousting…"

Lissa punched him in the shoulder hard enough to make him wince. "I mean it. Can you show me?"

Gaius quickly peered down at Lissa's bandaged hand. He had heard about her little fainting spell when she heard Lady Emmeryn was, not only captured, but to be publicly executed in Plegia. They would not be marching out until morning. It did not take a genius to know that she was trying to keep herself distracted. That Lissa knew worrying was not going to help anyone. "I think you've done enough needlework for one day, Princess," he told her. "But you can help me with something."

"Huh?"

The 'something' was a special orange cream fudge Gaius had been meaning to make. However, Lissa needed to twist his arm, figuratively and literally, into sharing with the others for dessert that night.

Dinner consisted of bear meat given to them by Flavia. She called it 'comfort food,' all things considering. It was cooked just the way Anali liked it. Roasted. She sat across the table from Maribelle, who was gossiping with her. Apparently, that morning, Frederick had taken things a little too far again when it came to his sworn duty. She said Chrom tried to paint a mental picture for Frederick to explain how far he could go. "In the end, Prince Chrom could not stress enough that Frederick needed to relax once in a while," said Maribelle. "But Frederick asked him if it was an order."

"Chrom didn't, did he?" asked Anali. "Order him, I mean."

"I think he was tempted to. But, in the end Chrom decided to trust Frederick more than that, and just told him it was a request."

"Ah." Anali took a sip from her warm tea. The taste of cherries rushed over her tongue. Her brow rose for a moment as a thought hit her. "How do you know this, exactly? It sounds like a private conversation."

"Oh, I was outside the tend to deliver Chrom's morning tea," explained Maribelle. She gave Anali an ever so small, but still genuine smile. "Eavesdropping is quite unsavory for a lady, but I'm afraid I simply couldn't resist."

Anali scanned the mess tent until she found Chrom, deep in conversation with Vaike and Stahl. A small, bittersweet, smile played upon her lips, glad that Chrom was still able to talk to the others. She was taking it as a sign that he was able to think clearly now. When the Khan's suggested they wait until morning to march off to Plegia, in order for Basilio's scouts to return with more information, Anali was sure he would have argued until his face turned as blue as his hair.

But he didn't. He relaxed immensely ever since Anali assured him that she would think of something. The realization made the fear she was trying to hold back swell in her chest. She needed to push that fear aside, however, or else Anali would not be able to think. And she needed to be at top notch for this mission. She could act on her emotions once Emmeryn was safe.

But all they had for information was what Elaine could report, and since she almost broke down in the castle, no one wanted to push her right now. It was not much anyway. Anali needed more details, where Gangrel wanted it done, and when, whether or not Phila and her squad were still alive. So, she agreed with Basilio when he wanted to wait. "Gangrel _will_ wait," Anali told Chrom, thinking she needed to convince him of this. "We've already established that it's an obvious trap. So he's going to wait a few days for the news to reach your ears. We can spare half a day."

Chrom nodded, taking Anali by the shoulder. "I know," he said. "We haven't lost a battle because of you, this won't be any different. So if you want to wait, we'll wait."

Anali took another sip of her tea. It wasn't as warm anymore, much to her disappointment. It seemed like a bit of the flavor had left with the warmth.

She switched her tea for the bear meat on her plate, and tore off a bit between her teeth. Anali scanned the mess tent, again. Usually, she lived for moments like this, eating and drinking with her friends, but there was a tension in the air. Nothing felt right. Anali wasn't sure why she expected anything more or less. Ylisstol had fallen, Traino had betrayed them, and Emmeryn was in the hands of Gangrel.

And then there was Elaine.

Room had been made in one of the girls tents for her. The poor girl was lost in her own head, just staring at her food, and fiddling with her fork. Anali heard the story about how she got here. How she escaped out of Ylisstol with Regan, how they got a few miles outside the city before they were struck down. Anali's blood ran cold when she heard that Regan died as a result.

And then there was the man who brought her the rest of the way. Frederick had to guess that it was the same Plegian Assassin from the other night. Anali had to agree. Masks that covered your mouth and nose could not have been easy to breathe in, after all. So she assumed most would not wear one.

If there was one silver lining for Elaine, it was that Cordelia had decided to take the Cleric under her wing. They went through a similar experience, Cordelia lost her squad, Elaine lost her best friend, and the both fled the battle. Maybe it was the best for both of them. "What do you think'll happen to Elaine?" Anali asked.

"I'm not sure," Maribelle said, casting her eyes downward. "If nothing else, Khan Flavia might allow the poor dear to stay in Ferox. But I do think, in the end, it's Elaine's choice."

Collecting her dishes, Maribelle stood up to take care of them. In the distance, she saw Chrom, the first to rise from his own table. He may have been in a talkative mood at the moment, but his appetite was not quite there today. Anali could see Chrom had hardly touched his plate, and he loved bear meat almost as much as she did. But it did seem natural to have a lack of an appetite. Heck, Anali was surprised Lissa was able to eat without everything coming back up.

Sighing, Anali drained the last of her tea. When she placed the cup back down, she almost jumped out of her seat to find Frederick, his armor put away for the night, and his person neat and tidy. "Hello, Anali," he greeted instantly. "I regret to say that I am in need of your assistance."

"_Really?_" Anali asked, raising one eyebrow at this. How often did Frederick ask for help? This was probably a once in a lifetime moment. "What do you need help with?"

"I have seen you eat bear with great relish on more than one occasion. I would like you to teach me this skill. Eating bear, that is."

"Huh?" Talk about something she did not see coming under any circumstance.

"I fear I've rarely been able to choke down wild game, and bear least of all," Frederick explained, there was immense guilt written all over his face. All because he disliked bear. Wait, did that mean he hasn't eaten today either? "But as this war grows harsher, I can no longer afford to be picky. There may come a day when bear is the only food available to us. Best I train to overcome my aversion now, while our food supply is not so dire."

Actually Frederick brought up an excellent point. Which also said that Frederick was serious about this. "Alright then! Let's get you eating some bear!"

"Yes, I will train till I can consume anything, without concern for taste or decorum," Frederick declared as though he were ready to scale a mountain of molten lava. "Like an animal, or a savage… or like you, Anali."

Her expression dropped, a dark look that was a made a bit scarier by her red eyes. "Did I say something wrong?" asked Frederick.

Anali shook her head. "It's nothing. So, you don't have a problem with more common meats, do you?"

"Beef and pork are fine. I also enjoy a good chicken on occasion."

"So you're good with everything found on a farm. Then let's start simple," Anali muttered. She reached under the table for a moment, and took out a thin strip of meat. "Try this jerky."

Immediately, Frederick snatched it from her hand. "I shall tear into it with gusto!" he proudly declared before tearing off a bite. Three seconds of chewing later, he began coughing, shuttering until he spat out the meaty wad. "G-Gamey! What is this?!"

"It's bear," Anali said innocently, with a broad grin. "Bought it from the merchant after helping her with her wagon. Half-price, actually."

"Healer!" Frederick shouted in a falsetto. He got up with enough force to nearly knock the table over. "I need a healer!"

"Animal or savage indeed!" Anali grumbled as soon as Frederick was out of earshot.

Dessert was compliments of, partially, Lissa and Gaius, though mostly Gaius, and partially the Khans. Orange cream fudge, and figs. An impish smile appeared on Anali's lips as she looked over both shoulders. No sign of Frederick, so there was no one to stop her from sneaking one.

Or three.

Upon pocket the fruit, Anali grabbed herself a hunk of fudge. It was surprisingly tasty, given that Lissa played a part in it. She heard about the 'rainbow pie' Lissa made some time before Anali showed up. The nicest thing once could say was that it existed

After Anali excused herself from the mess tent she looked over her shoulder for Frederick. Before she took out one of her figs, and bite out of it. She needed a few things before heading off to her tent; a map of Plegia, a bottle of ink, and a quill. She could at least create a few rough ideas, given what she knew about the situation, and what little she knew about Gangrel.

Now, where was the supplies tent? Didn't some one tell her?

Once she opened the flap to the nearest tent, Anali was met with a face-full of steam. She almost instantly recognized the tub in front of her. And, worse still, she recognized the man in the tub. And unfortunately, unlike Gaius, Chrom did not keep his back to her.

She felt her face go red at the sight of his well-toned muscles. His skin was littered with old, thin scars from previous battles. He had an odd tan line due to the oddity of his one sleeved top. Anali struggled to keep her eyes from going too far down, but the simple fact that she could look down caused her to tense up.

"Anali?!" Chrom exclaimed, his hair still full of suds. "Where'd you com-"

The yell Anali let out was a bizarre combination of horror and rage, as she did not quite know which to feel at the moment. "Blazes, what are you screaming for?!" Chrom shot back, his face was so red it was little wonder that his nose hadn't started to bleed. "If anyone should be screaming it's me isn-"

"Have you no shame?!" Anali shouted cutting him off. Her blush went from ear to ear. "Noble or not, you should at least wear a towel when you address a lady!"

At the word 'lady' Anali drew back her hand that carried the fig, and threw it straight at Chrom. "B-But, you-" Chrom was cut off when the fig smacked him in the head with enough force he was almost knocked out of the tub. "OW! You're the one who walked in on me!"

Anali let out a strangled groan through her teeth as she turned on her heel and marched out. The nerve of him! He could have least put on a towel, even though he was still lathered… and dripping wet… and really, Anali was the one who walked in on him….

Oh, gods…

She was not quite sure what was worse; the fact that this was the second time she walked in on a man in the bath in two days, or the fact that she actually threw something this time. Maybe Frederick was right to ban her from the figs.

Oh, gods! She threw something at Chrom! _And_ she yelled at him! Oh, gods, where was a hole she could go burry herself in?

Gods, what was wrong with her?! Anali did not act like this when she stumbled upon Gaius last night. Of course, Gaius had his back to her at the time. Chrom? Oh, no. She got a full view of Chrom, only slightly censored thanks to the suds in the water.

Anali went and hid herself in the armory tent. She paced back and forth while fiddling with her hands. Every so often she would peek outside, debating on whether or not to apologize. Or to just avoid Chrom until the whole thing blew over, however long it that took. But, Anali realized pretty quickly how that would not work. She was his chief tactician after all.

However, as things turned out, Anali would not have to find Chrom, he found her. While Anali did not see, it sounded like he went straight from the bathing tent, to the armory. There was a long, agonizing moment of silence with the two just staring at each other. She vaguely noticed that Chrom hadn't bothered to put on his pauldron or cape, which gave her full view of his sleeved left arm.

What _was_ it with this man an asymmetrical fashion?

"I'm sorry!" she said quickly.

"Are we done throwing figs?" Chrom asked through a sigh.

"I think…" Anali started to fiddle with her fingers again. Her face was beginning to burn. If nothing else, she was fairly good at blushing. "I-I don't know what happened. Something… snapped and…"

A weak, lopsided smirk played upon Chrom's lips. "Well, no harm done." He added, with a brief, humorless laugh, "The god's justice, perhaps, for my blunder before."

"I feel terrible about the fig, though," Anali said, rubbing her forehead. She looked up at Chrom with a grimace. "How's your ear?"

"Better," Chrom said, instinctively touching it as lightly as possible. "It still stings a little, but at least I can hear out of it."

She giggled at that, happy that they could both find a bit of levity. Things were about to become increasingly difficult starting tomorrow, and when it would end would be anyone's guess. "In any case, look on the bright side," Chrom spoke up. "We've seen each other naked now, right? So I guess we've got nothing left to hide. In a way, we're closer than ever."

Anali's face turned redder. "Not exactly the most appropriate way for a man and woman to get to know each other!" Closing her eyes, Anali sighed. "But I guess as long as nobody else knows…"

Laughing, Chrom wrapped an arm around her shoulder. A woodsy scent filled her nose. "It's like we're partners in crime sharing an unsavory past," he said with gusto. "Anything that brings us closer will make us stronger on the battlefield. Just wait and see."

"Partners in crime, eh?" Anali asked. Giggling she added, "I like the sound of that."

Giggling still, she lightly nudged Chrom with her elbow. "Well then, partner, your secret's safe with me."

* * *

"Please, milord!" Elaine kept her hands in front of her abdomen. "Allow me to accompany you on this mission!"

Basilio's men came back with good news; Captain Phila was still alive. It was news that made Cordelia and Sumia happy. And there was more detail about Emmeryn's execution. Basilio plotted out Gangrel's plans on a map of Yama, Plegia's capital city. By the castle, there was a large effigy of the remains of Grima, or at least some believed it was an effigy, no one really knew anymore. The plan was to have Emmeryn perched on one of the highest peeks, right where all of Yama could see. The executioner would behead her, and her remains would be thrown off.

This information was beginning to get the gears spinning in Anali's head. The first thing they needed to do was march to Plegia. The march took two days to get to the border, and another day and a-half to reach Yama. A three and a-half day mission.

As the Shepherds packed, preparing to go, Elaine sought out Chrom, requesting to come along with them. It was a request that surprised him. She was the same age as Lissa and Maribelle, old enough to have joined the Shepherds by now, and even though she slept in the garrison, all Elaine did was serve as a personal healer during training. This was the first mission Elaine was remotely interested in.

And there was the issue that she was a bit of a mess the previous night. Lost in her own head, crying at various points, and trying not to cry. Chrom did not know Elaine well, but he did hear that her friend died in their escape, he was expecting Elaine to still be grieving. "Are you sure?" he asked her. "You're not obligated to, Raimi will keep you safe."

"I know," Elaine said looking down at her hands. "B-But… Lady Emmeryn was the one who gave me the chance to escape. So I want to help in anyway I can."

Her eyes carried such a conviction, Chrom had to allow it. "Frederick," he called. "See if we can get Elaine a healing staff ready"

And then they started their march. Just the Shepherds, and the Khans. Two days of idle chit-chat. A few stories were told. Jokes were shared. And then they finally crossed the Plegian border.

On the first night in Plegia, they set up camp a few miles outside a small village. After Cordelia informed Frederick of a Wyvern Rider she saw in the sky, the royal siblings, Anali, and Frederick stood a few yards outside the campground. Frederick had surveyed the area, as Chrom and Anali tried to decide whether or not to move. The Rider did not approach the campsite, but flew East, in the direction of Yama. "One of Gangrel's men no doubt," said Anali. "This is either really good, or really bad."

"What do you mean?" Chrom asked.

"If the Wyvern Rider informs Gangrel that he's seen us, it might give us less time to rescue Emmeryn. But, on the other hand, he would want us to be there, so he would wait. But considering his behavior at the border pass, he won't wait forever. He might decide to have it done tomorrow."

Lissa's breath hitched when she heard this. Immediately, Anali held her hands up, as she took a step back. "I-I wouldn't worry about it though," she said quickly. "It's as I said he want us to- _Ah!_"

She heard a strained, animalistic cry from behind her, followed by a sharp pain on either side of her right ankle. Anali fell onto the sandy ground, gripping her fresh injury. "Anali!" Chrom gasped, dropping down to her side in an instant.

A black lizard with six yellow spots on its back leapt up from the sand. Screaming, Lissa hid herself behind Chrom. The ever vigilant Frederick pulled his sword out, and plunged it into the lizard's backside. The lizard clicked out it's cry three times, before it's head, tail, and legs dropped limp.

"You all right?" asked Chrom. He placed a hand gingerly on her shoulder.

"Yeah…" mumbled Anali. Wincing, she slowly removed her hands from her ankle to check he wounds. "It surprised me more than any- Damn thing bit through the leather!"

Sure enough, there were four, small holes in Anali's boot on the sides of her ankle. Already, pools of blood were beginning to soak around the holes. "It bit through the leather!" she repeated.

Chrom offered a hand out to her. "Can you stand?"

"Yeah."

As soon as Chrom helped her back onto her feet she heard the panting mixed with strangled crying. Her head turned to the side to find a little girl, about twelve or thirteen, with long light green hair, running out of the village. She, surprisingly, bore a lot of skin, even with the purple cape over her shoulders. The girl tripped slightly as she stopped to catch her breath, it did not look like she noticed the Ylissean camp. "Have I…" she said to herself, panting. "Have I lost him?"

"Wait, I say!" a new voice cried.

A man, who had to be in his mid forties, early fifties, hurried to the girls side. He was dressed in earthy colors, and his brown hair carried a slight tint of red. His accent was quite unusual, not like Virion's, but was still something Anali never heard before. "Why you no comprehending, wee one?" the man asked the girl.

The girl looked like she was ready to cry. "GET AWAY!" she screamed at him. Burnt out, she fell to her knees. "Just leave me alone!"

The man placed a gloved finger to his lips. "Please, be keeping down the voice," he said in a hushed tone. "You give away position! Very bad! You break Gregor's heart. Why you treat like villain?"

Anali was not quite sure what was going on. First the girl, now this man. At least Chrom had decided to act first, ask questions later. "You there, fiend!" Chrom shouted. "Keep your hands off that maiden!"

"Who is fiend?" asked the man. He scanned the desert area for a moment, then pointed to himself. "You mean Gregor? No, friend! You have idea wrong!"

"Yeah right!" Lissa scoffed. Crossing her arms over her chest, she muttered under her breath, "Creep."

There was a loud, audible groan from Gregor. "This day has been nothing but insults and punches to groin," he complained. "And all for doing good deed! Listen, friends! Gregor only want to-"

"There she is!" someone shouted.

A group of eight men, each carrying chains or rope appeared from the village. At least two of them looked like they were still nursing a hangover. One man shouted something about getting his monies worth, and another wanted the thief's, presumably Gregor's, head on a silver platter. All of them were clearly drunk off their arses.

The girl, Nowi, took a step back, eyes widened and hands trembling. She shook her head a couple of times in denial. "I'm not going back…" she said to herself as the men ran closer. "I'm not going back… I won't go back to the auction block!"

And just like that, Nowi was replaced with a yellow dragon with green tips on its wings. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" the dragon screamed, using Nowi's voice.

"What in blazes?!" Anali gasped, grabbing Chrom by the arm in surprise. "She turned into a dragon?!"

"By the gods, she's a Manakete," Chrom said in utter awe. "Never thought I'd see one."

"Well then," Frederick spoke up. "It would appear that she doesn't need our help so much as we could use hers."

"No kidding," added Lissa.

An icy blue slush shoot out of Nowi's mouth, hitting three of the men who were after her. One of them threw his length of rope onto the ground, and tried jumping for Nowi. Anali wasn't quite sure what he was trying to accomplish. So the man was met with Gregor's sword. And with one last release of Nowi's breath, her chasers decided to cut their losses, and ran back, tripping over one another in their drunken haze.

As quickly as she transformed, Nowi reverted back to her humanoid form, and sunk into the sand, crying. "This is just the worst. Day. Ever!" she cried.

"Ho now, wee one!" Gregor beamed, crouching down beside her. "Do not make with the crying of tears. The evil people are now gone. This is good, no?"

Sniffling, Nowi wiped one eye. "I guess," she said. Slowly, she got onto her feet and held her hands behind her back. "I'm sorry I was so mean to you earlier. I just get nervous around people who are… ehh… outside my age group."

"Your age group?" Gregor repeated with laughter. "Gregor much closer to your age than others here!"

"Say, um… Gregor, was it?" asked Chrom. He rubbed the back of his head, still not quite sure what to make of the situation. "Do you mind looking after her?"

Crossing his arms over his chest, Gregor thought for a moment. He was a tall man with broad shoulders, who looked like he had been around. "Gregor is mercenary, yes?" he said, at length. "Maybe you hire Gregor instead. True, Gregor just finished killing former employers, but is still very reliable! So long as you not try to hurt little girls, Gregor will not hurt you. Also, Gregor need steady income." Untangling one hand he tossed it to the side as he said, "Many angry former employers."

"You're a sellsword?" asked Chrom.

"Yes! Very sell sword! Cost performance very high. You have Gregor's word."

Chrom's eyes narrowed as he thought about it in his head. How high could a mercenary cost anyway? "Sure, why not?" he replied. "You're hired."

"Wait, wait!" Nowi said, raising her hand and bouncing on the balls of her feet. "What about me?! I'm not going back to the auction block!"

"Auction block?" Anali repeated. "Those men were trying to sell you? Like a slave?"

With her hands balled up in front of her face, Nowi nodded twice. "To men more despicable than you can possibly imagine!" she said. "They made me transform for them, then they'd drink and laugh, and call out other tricks…"

"What kind of scumbags buy and sell little girls?!" Lissa exclaimed. "Even if she can turn into a dragon…"

A knowing smile played upon Frederick's lips. "She may be little, milady," he said knowingly. "But nearly not so young as you think. Manaketes live a very long time."

"Whoa, really?" Lissa asked in awe. She tilted her head to the side, trying to study Nowi's face. "How old _are_ you?"

Nowi shrugged halfheartedly. "I dunno. A thousand… something," she said. A moment later, she pointed to her face, bearing all her teeth in a grin. "But look! No wrinkles!"

Sweeping her injured leg behind the other, Anali leaned into Chrom's direction. "Chrom, we can't leave her on her own," she whispered. "At least not here."

"I know. And I don't intend to," Chrom whispered back. Looking down at Nowi, he said, "Why don't you stay with us? We can give you food and shelter, but we may need you to fight a few battles, but-"

"Do I get to decide when I can transform?" Nowi asked, pointing to herself. "On the battlefield and off?"

"Yes, of course."

"Where do I sign up?!"

* * *

Traino had traded his green robes, the ones that matched those of Emmeryn's, for Plegia's black and purple. He tapped the tips of his fingers against each other as one of Gangrel's soldiers reported news to him and Aversa. "So, Captain," Aversa said, saying the word 'captain' with a bit of sarcasm. "Let me be certain I understand your report. Not only did you not confirm the Ylissean party carries the Fire Emblem, but you can't be certain Prince Chrom is even among them? Is that the gist of it?"

The soldier swallowed. "Y-Yes, milady!" He confirmed. "The was sun setting, and one of their Pegasus Knight's were on patrol."

"Perhaps, if you had gotten closer, Captain," said Aversa. She removed the sword from Gangrel's belt, and approached the soldier in long strides. "Here, allow me to show you…"

"M-Milady, please!" the soldier begged, slowly backing up. "I did all I could! I'm sorry! I-"

He was cut off when Aversa plunged the blade into his chest. He fell to the floor, his eyes glassy, and jaw hung open. "Apology accepted," Aversa said, wiping the blood of the sword with he soldiers clothes.

"Please don't kill all the soldiers, my dear," Gangrel said through a sigh. "We need a few for the welcoming party. The Ylisseans will be here soon - Chrom and the Emblem among them, I'm sure. That bleeding-heart prince would never put good sense before his sister."

"No, he wouldn't," Traino agreed bitterly. "And when they arrive?"

The grin on the king's face grew bigger and bigger. "It will be a massacre worthy of their legendary father!"

Just what Traino wanted to hear.

* * *

"I don't think Gangrel will see it coming," Anali said, crossing her arms over her chest. "All we care about is saving Lady Emmeryn, or at least, that's what he'll think."

"Think you can handle it, oaf?" Flavia asked Basilio with a broad grin.

"Even in my sleep, I could handle it," responded Basilio.

Given how close they were to Yama, they needed to discuss the rescue strategy. It was a plan that only Anali could come up with. It was going to work, Chrom knew it would. Because it was her plan. "Sire," one of Basilio's scouts said, walking into the meeting. He bowed slightly, and spoke as he rose, "The Exalt is to be executed at the castle on the morrow. I heard it from the king's own lips, sire."

Basilio gave his soldier a brief nod, before he excused himself. "This is it, then," Basilio said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Exactly as you predicted, Anali," Chrom said to her.

"So far, yes," she agreed. "But tomorrow will be the true test…"

"Chin up, there!" Flavia beamed. She clapped Anali on the back, causing a strained 'ow' to escape her lips. "Show some confidence! The plan is risky, but only as much is called for."

"We'll find a way to see it through, Anali," Chrom assured her. She flinched a little, slightly sore from Flavia's gesture, when he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. This time tomorrow, we'll be swapping stories with Emm on the road home."

Anali tried to smile. "I hope you're right."

* * *

She sat with one leg crossed over the other as Validar approached her, then genuflected at her feet. "Master Grima, Exalt Emmeryn is to be put to death on the morrow. Events will soon be back on course."

"Excellent," she said, a smile playing upon her lips. "And to think, you doubted the truth of my word."

"Forgive my ignorance," Validar said, sinking lower. "I should have known better than to doubt you, O great one."

"Tomorrow will play out as it is written…" she steepled her fingers together. "And if we play our cards right, her awakening will be just over the horizon in the long run."

In the shadows, the man with the mask, with his cowl down, stared with his eyes sunken in. When Validar had called for him specifically. This was a beggars tale, and one he still struggled to believe.

_Why do you resist?_

Anali woke with a start, startling Lissa who was sent to wake her. "Whoa, Anali!" the princess gasped. "What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"

"Is… that was it was?" asked Anali. She rubbed her eye with the palm of one hand. "Y-Yes, it must have been…" She shook her head. "I'm sorry, what brings you here, Lissa?"

"Frederick sent me," Lissa said, rocking on her heels. "He says it's time to march. And we can't start the plan without our master tactician!"

Her breath hitched. Of course, how could she have forgotten. This was it, all or nothing. The Exalts life was on the line; Chrom and Lissa's sister was on the line. The woman who gave Anali her trust simply because Chrom had it.

This was it.

* * *

Emmeryn stood at the end of higest peek of the effigy. Her hands were lined together in a prayer position, her head lowered, deep in conversation. Her prayers were not for herself, but for those who were suffering in the wake of Plegia's attack, for Plegia itself, for Phila, whether or not she was dead, for Traino to let go of his hatred and find inner peace. Emmeryn herself, was the last on the list. Behind her, the Warrior who would serve as her executioner his axe at the ready, waiting for Gangrel's word.

Yama's citizens crowded around the courtyard, the effigy perfectly insight. The people murmured amongst themselves, as Gangrel's soldiers kept their king protected. The Plegian King stood at the head of the court yard with Aversa and Traino at his side. "Good people!" Gangrel declared, his voice carried in the wind. "Warriors of Plegia! Welcome, one and all! Your anticipation electrifies the air! We all remember the crimes of Ylisse, would you have their witch-queen answer for them? Here? Today? _NOW?! _Finally, we will have justice!" He looked up. "Executioner! If you would be so kind…"

The warrior raised his axe above his head, still, the Exalt did not react. "Flavia!" shouted a voice from the crowd.

An axe sailed into the air, striking the executioner in the chest. He slumped to the side, plummeting to the ground. Emmeryn's eyes snapped seeing the crowd below run away from the court, back into down, save for a handful of people that ran in the opposite direction. "Go! Go!" Anali shouted.

Gangrel cackled at the chaos ensuing, reveling in the turn of events. "We've been waiting for you, Little Prince," he beamed. Snapping his fingers, he ordered, "Men; kill him. Kill his sister. Kill his troops, and his friends! KILL THEM ALL!"

Amongst Gangrel's soldiers, a young woman, a Dark Mage, hugged her purple tome close to her. So they were to kill or die because their king commanded it? What reason did Tharja have to hate, or even fight these Ylisseans? She was perfectly capable of choosing who to hate on her own, she did it all the time. No, Tharja would rather sit this one out.

Anali thrust her blade forward, skewering one of the Plegian soldiers. He fell to his knees, before dropping to the ground, soiling the sand. "Nowi," Anali called. The Manakete had transformed almost as soon as the battle had started.

"Yeah?" she asked, her voice slightly warped as a dragon.

"Keep an eye out for Wyvern Riders," Anali instructed. She ducked an oncoming attack. As quickly as possible, she got out her tome, and tried to balance it on one hand, while holding her sword. Throwing her hand foreword, she added, "If you can find Virion, Cordelia, and Sumia, pass the message along, I'll leave that job to you four!"

"Right!" Nowi said in acknowledgement. She let out her breath, taking out an archer.

Sully threw her sword into everyone who came in her path, with Kellam picking up the stragglers for her. Gregor seemed to be working with Panne, Gregor would strike at a soldier, and Panne, transformed, would finish it off. It was a steady strategy. Virion was assigned to stay close to Elaine, to her credit, she kept herself together quite well. While not so much assigned to keep her safe, Lissa just sort of gravitated towards Gaius.

Maribelle tore through the battle with Ricken behind her, his wind spells hitting their marks with great accuracy. Overhead, Sumia and Cordelia surveyed the field, swooping down to aid their brothers-in-arms when they needed extra assistance. Frederick could have very well been a one-man army. Nothing could get in his way. The only one that could have matched Frederick was Lon'qu. It was like his blade did not even exist as he struck down soldier, after soldier.

Miriel readjusted her glasses more than once as she cast spell after spell. She cast a spell in Vaike's direction, taking out an archer who had aimed at him. He managed to flash her a brief, thankful smile. Stahl steered this horse as Donnel plunged his lance into various Plegian soldiers. If he needed extra help, Stahl was there to assist with a sword in hand.

Chrom forced his way through the soldiers. He had a few scratches on his exposed arm, but was relatively unharmed. The shine of an axe caught his attention as a woman dressed in Ylissean clerical clothing brought it down on one of the soldiers. Her long, sandy blonde hair fell over her shoulders momentarily. Her hair flailed around her as she whipped herself around, taking out another soldier. "You there!" Chrom called, catching the woman's attention. "Who are you? Why do you fight alone?"

"Good heavens!" the woman gasped, lowering her axe. There was a slight smile on her face. "Prince Chrom, brother to Her Grace, the Exalt!"

"You know of me?" he asked.

"Know you? Of course, sire! All Ylissean clergy do. I must thank the gods for uniting us!" Immediately Libra dropped to one knee, one hand held over her heart. "Oh, dearest and most heavenly fa-"

Chrom placed a hand on her shoulder, cutting the prayer off. "With all respect, now is not the time for prayer, it's action that is called for."

"Ah, yes, too true." Libra rose up. "We hurried here to help as soon as word came of Lady Emmeryn's execution."

"We?" questioned Chrom. "Then there are more of you?"

Libra's head lowered. "Alas, there _were_. I lost many brave comrades along the way. In truth, I was starting to doubt the purpose of my struggle," Quickly, Libra lifted her head with a firm resolve. "But no longer! Pray, sire, let my axe serve you and your party!"

Chrom smiled slightly. "Your love for my sister is clear," he said kindly. "I would be honored to be joined by such a formidable woman of the cloth."

Grimacing slightly, Libra corrected, "_Man_, sire. _Man_ of the cloth."

"You're a…" the prince's voice trailed off, looking Libra over. "You're not a woman?"

It was a bit unsettling. Libra had delicate facial features, and admittedly his voice was rather effeminate. And, well, he was _pretty_. His face was really pretty, a delicate jaw line, long luscious hair. He was pretty! "No, sire," confirmed Libra. "Women are Clerics. I am a Priest. Well, technically a War Monk, if you care to split hairs…"

"Oh. Yes, well, I'm… I didn't mean to imply…" Chrom's voice trailed off and his face turned red. He forced himself to look away. "Well, this is rather awkward."

"Oh, it's all right, sire," the War Monk reassured him. "You realized your mistake quickly enough. It could have become much awkward…" He smiled, slyly. "Much more."

"Right! Let's stop there."

Anali fell onto her backside, the soldier she was battling against completely overpowered her in height and strength. He readied his blade for a killing blow; and then he was thrown off his feet by a purple haze. Confused, Anali rolled onto her forearms to find a young woman with long black hair, dressed in a tight Dark Mages outfit. Anali could not quite tell what color her eyes were, due to the shadow under her bangs, but even then, she could tell her eyes were on Anali. There was a thin smile on Tharja's face as she closed her Flux tome. "Such a beautiful darkness," she said with a voice that was low and sultry.

"Uh…" Anali's voice trailed off as she rose to her feet, ignoring the dull ache in her right leg. "Can I help you? And ask why you're helping me? Aren't we on opposite sides?"

Tharja smirked. "Death comes for all of us eventually," she said, hugging her tome close to her. "Why invite it early, fighting for a cause I don't believe in?"

"So you're not exactly with Gangrel?"

"Let's just say I'm keeping my options open. I mean, long live the king and whatever, but I'd like to keep living as well. And I have a bit of a rebellious streak, I'm afraid." Her smile sent a chill up Anali's spine. "A… dark side, if you will."

Anali swallowed, suddenly feeling very afraid. "Well, you know, why don't you fight with us?" she asked. "What a better way to rebel?"

"Head's up!" Vaike shouted as a Wyvern Rider, with an arrow in both wyvern and rider, plummeted to the earth.

Quickly, Chrom and Libra leaped out of the way; the prince slid to a stop by Anali and Tharja. Overhead, Sumia, Cordelia, and Nowi worked on taking out the remaining four. Chrom looked over his shoulder at the girls. "Who's this?" he asked, gesturing to the Dark Mage.

"Tharja," she answered. "Your little tactician here suggested I ally with your army for the time being."

"Very well," Chrom nodded. "Welcome aboard."

Tharja's brow rose in concern. "You would trust me, Princey?" she asked. "And if this is just a ploy to plunge a dagger in your back?"

"My sister, the exalt - I think she would trust you. And I'm trying to learn from her. Besides, I already need to watch my back, whether you're with us or not."

She pouted, as though disappointed. "Well, that's odd… Usually when I bring up the backstabbing bit the discussion is over."

"Yeah, that happens a lot," Anali murmured.

"Fine, consider me your new ally… For now."

"Anali!" Chrom said, grasping her by the shoulder.

Nowi had taken out the last of the Wyvern Riders. The sky was clear. Quickly Chrom took out Falchion, positioning it so that the sun caught on it's surface. He moved Falchion so that the light on the blade flickered three times.

Three figures swooped down from the clouds, two Pegasus Knights, and a Falcon Knight. The Falcon Knight, Phila, hovered a few meters away from Emmeryn. "Your Grace!" she said, nodding a the Exalt.

"Phila!" Emmeryn breathed out, a few happy tears fell out of her eyes. She placed a hand over her chest, as she spoke, "I'm so glad to see you're safe! But how-"

"Khan Basilio and his men freed me," Phila explained. She extended her hand to Emmeryn. "Come, we must hurry!"

"What?!" Gangrel roared at the sudden turn of events. "Pegasus Knights?! How did the… That damned Ylissean tactician does not play fair!"

"Were you expecting less?" Traino asked him. "You only captured their Exalt."

"Well," Aversa smiled. She played with a lock of hair. "Lucky for you, neither do I."

With a snap of her fingers, a hoard of Risen rose up from the earth. If that wasn't enough, they were Archers. "What?!" Anali gasped. She scanned the sky for Sumia and Cordelia. They were beginning to land, good.

Gangrel could have pulled a muscle laughing. He wasn't sure where Aversa learned a trick like that, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, not on this day. "Oh, did an army of living corpses just appear out of the blue?! Truly, the heavens smiles upon the mighty King Gangrel this day!"

In perfect unison, the Archers strung their bows. They took aim, and fired at Phila. Many of the arrows plunged into her alicorn's wings. If that was not enough, one arrow struck Phila in the neck. Emmeryn's hands covered her mouth; tears spilled out of her widened eyes. For a split second all Emmeryn could see was Phila's dull eyes and expressionless face. She realized too late that Phila had fallen. The fall was enough to kill her, falling on her alicorn would have killed her; but with the arrow through her throat, she was probably dead before she hit the ground. "Phila…" Emmeryn choked out.

"Exeunt one Pegasus Knight!" Gangrel cackled, his hands held out at his side. "Watch how they fall, one by one!"

Another flurry of arrows flew into the air. The remaining Pegasus Knights fell to the ground like a couple of stones. "No, no, no…" Anali hugged herself. Risen could be _controlled_? Why didn't she even think of the possibility?

"I believe this is what they call a 'reversal of fortunes,'" said Gangrel. "Now… grovel before me! Plead! Beg for your worthless lives!"

"I'd give up my life before I'd beg for it from you!" Chrom shot back.

"Oh, now that's a good line. A fitting epitaph for your tombstone, perhaps? But it's not just your life in the balance." Immediately, Gangrel pointed up at Emmeryn, still perched on her spot, mourning the loss of Phila. "The Exalt still stands upon the block! And I have over a dozen bows trained on her! All it would take is one word from me…"

"Emm!" Chrom shouted at her. "Hold on, I'm-"

"ARCHERS!" bellowed Gangrel. "If this Ylissean pup so much as twitches, let your arrows fly!"

Chrom's eyes narrowed as he glared at Gangrel. The plundered villages, the extra precautions they had to take. All because of him. And now Chrom couldn't even rescue Emmeryn. "I'll… I'll kill you!"

"Go ahead!" exclaimed Gangrel. "I _welcome_ it! Just know you were responsible for Big Sister's bloody demise!"

He extended one hand to the Shepherds. "And what of the rest of you, eh? Who wants the honor of killing the Exalt?" The Plegian King waited a moment. The Shepherds bravado was gone now. None of them were saying anything, just exchanging pitiful expressions amongst themselves. "No one? Bah! Your merry band isn't quite so headstrong anymore, is it? Pathetic!"

"Damn you!" growled Chrom.

"Now, now, my boy," Gangrel crossed his arms over his chest. "No one needs to die today. Not you. Not the Exalt. Not your friends. Just lay down your sword, and give me the Fire Emblem."

"Chrom, no!" shouted Anali. "You can't trust him!"

"_Of course _I can't trust him!" Chrom snapped back. "I'm not an idiot! But if I just say no, he'll kill her!"

Gangrel held up three fingers. "I will count to three," he said. "Throw down your weapons, or your Exalt becomes the world's largest quiver. One!"

Anali's hands pushed through her bangs, hard enough it was little wonder she didn't tear the strands out of their roots.

No… no, no, no, no! This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening.

"Two!"

Maybe Sumia or Cordelia could… no. They just witness why it wouldn't work. Three times.

"Thr-"

"Gangrel, hold! You win!" Chrom shouted, extending one arm to the Plegian king. Anali snapped her head up, slowly, Chrom lowered his arm, as he looked over his shoulder. "Everyone, lay down yo-"

"No, wait!" shouted Emmeryn.

"SILENCE!" bellowed Gangrel.

"King Gangrel," said Emmeryn. Still, after everything, she insisted on being polite to him. "Is there no hope you will listen to reason?"

"You mean listen to more of your sanctimonious babble?!" Gangrel spat out. "I think not. No, all I want to hear is the _thunk_ of arrows, and a _splat_ as you hit the ground." He lowered his eyes into a dark glare. "Take one, long, last look from your perch. You do so enjoy looking down on people. Then prepare to meet your ground, and your maker! That is, unless someone were to give me the Emblem… Now!"

"All right!" shouted Chrom. His voice becoming more and more desperate. He looked up at his sister, hoping she could see reason. "Emm, I know you won't approve, but this is my final decision. Maybe someday we'll face a crisis where maybe the Emblem would've helped… But I know for a fact that Ylisse needs you, today! The people need their Exalt… And we need our sister. If those dark days should come, we'll face them together."

"Chrom…" Emmeryn said weakly. She smiled, though she was sure he couldn't see from this distance. "Thank you. I know now what I must do…"

"Oh gods!" Anali's hands slapped over her mouths. Emmeryn wasn't… _she wasn't…_

She turned herself towards the city of Yama. "Plegians," Emmeryn said, willing her voice to be the strongest it has ever been. "I ask you to hear the truth in my words! War will win you nothing but sadness and pain, both inside your borders and out. Please, free yourselves from this hatred! From this cycle of pain and vengeance. Do what you must…" She closed her eyes momentarily. Snapping them open she finished with, "As I will do. See now that one selfless act has the power to change the world!"

She was…

"Emm, no!" Chrom shouted. "No!"

He bolted, trying to map out the quickest route to Emmeryn, to stop her before it was too late.

The Exalt watched for a moment, as Chrom ran. She heard nothing, not even a murmur. Had she been wrong this whole time, then?

There was a time, when they were still children, when Chrom insisted that peace was nothing but empty words. Emmeryn, at the time, told him that he needed to wait a little longer, to grow. For he was still quite young, and could not quite understand what Emmeryn's words meant.

Maybe he had been right this whole time.

Chrom…

He was second in line, as Emmeryn was unmarried and childless. A few times, the counsel would ask her if Ylisse would be looking forward to a royal wedding. But, if Emmeryn was ever going to wed, her would-be husband needed to understand that her love, first and foremost, belong to her people, and to her family. Besides, it didn't matter right now. The only one Emmeryn could have ever wanted to marry just died right in front of her.

So, the throne would be left to Chrom, if Emmeryn's death was ever apparent. It was a torch she hoped he wouldn't have had to bare. But, with the right people by his side, he could do it. And he would, her dear brother was already surrounded by the right people. Perhaps Chrom would be able to do what Emmeryn never could.

Maybe someday Chrom and Lissa would forgive her.

She smiled to herself, a small, bittersweet smile. "So be it," she said under her breath.

She walked up to the very edge of the pillar. Her eyes cast upward to take one last look at the sky. It was a sunny day, with white clouds against a blue backdrop. Emmeryn wouldn't have had it any other way.

She brought her hands together as though she were praying.

And then Emmeryn leaned forward until she fell right off the ledge.

_Chrom… Lissa… And all my people… Know that I loved you._

* * *

**Authors Note: **Strangely, this was a chapter I was really looking forward to writing. Well, okay, not strangely, I get why, but _still_.

No joke, my heart was pounding the closer and closer I got to the end as I was writing this.

Is it weird that a part of me ships Gangrel/Emmeryn?

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve  
The Hangman's Noose**

Why?

Hadn't Anali left no stone unturned? Hadn't she thought of every single card Gangrel could have pulled?

No.

No, she didn't

Anali _never_ counted on the Risen, which was exactly where her plan fell apart. The instant Aversa summoned those Risen her plan had failed. Because Anali never considered that Risen could be controlled. Until now they were always working for themselves, under the leadership of a chiftan, never a living person. But it never crossed Anali's mind that it was possible. It should have. She was the damn tactician.

Anali stood stone still as she watched Emmeryn's fall. She didn't know what she should do, did she stop Chrom? From doing what exactly, it was far too late now. Did she watch Emmeryn for as long as she could? That was what Anali did regardless, right until Emmeryn disappeared behind the city, moments before she hit the ground. Anali swore she heard the sickening thud, no matter how far away the impact sight was.

It was Lissa's screams that snapped her out of it. Anali whipped around just as Lissa fell to her knees, hugging herself as she broke down into loud sobs. Maribelle was the only one who had any reaction beyond stunned silence. Quickly she was at Lissa's side, rocking the princess in her arms.

Gangrel, on the other hand, had broken out into a fit of laughter. "Well now! How disgustingly noble! And so lovely a fall! Here I thought death to be an ugly thing! I've never seen one fall so gracefully, in fact. And I've seen many fall. And, so ends Emmeryn, Ylisse's most Exalted!"

He paused for a moment and gripped his chin to think. "But how can we ensure everyone remembers this beautiful moment?" he pondered aloud. "Perhaps we should gather up her body and put it on display!"

_**"GANGREL!" **_exclaimed Chrom; venom shot out with every syllable. The prince kept his hand tight on the hilt of Falchion. "You die today!"

Without warning Chrom was thrown to the ground in front of the Shepherds. Basilio stood, roughly where Chrom once stood. The Khan's lowered his hand, having punched the prince in the face. "I don't think so, boy!" Basilio snapped. "I secured an escape route, we have to go, now!"

"B-But… her body…" Chrom said slowly getting onto his knees. "I have to…"

Basilio leapt down to the ground level. He approached Chrom and grabbed him by the collar, forcing him onto his feet. "You have to _run!_" Basilio shoved Chrom in Anali's direction. "Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, Anali!"

"Right," said Anali. She took Chrom's hand into her own. She turn towards the Shepherds. "All right, you heard the man! We're following Khan Basilio, try to keep up! Cordelia, Sumia stay within a safe distance above us until I say otherwise! Let's move!"

* * *

In the distance a young woman with long blue hair had seen everything she needed to. She hurried to Yana the instant she heard about the Exalt's impending execution. She had seen Captain Phila and her Pegasus Knight's downfall. And she had seen Lady Emmeryn walk to her death with open arms. Had everything been for naught? Was the dark future she was trying to prevent just over the horizon now?

* * *

Aversa watched as the Shepherds followed the East Khan's directions. She held onto her chin, her mouth twisted as she thought. "Shall I send out troops after them?" she asked Gangrel.

Gangrel waved his hand at that. "Let them go with their tails between their legs. They won't be making it out of Plegia anytime soon."

Aversa's white-painted lips smoothed out into a smirk. "Than shall I take care of our… unfinished business?"

"Oooh! Be my guest. Traino!"

Ylisse's former Hierarch turned his gaze away from the execution sight. "Gangrel?"

"With the end of Emmeryn, so too does our partnership. Wouldn't you agree?"

Traino straightened his back. He nodded, "Yes, I would."

"Good!" Gangrel clapped his hands in delight. "Then no hard feelings?"

"About wh-"

Aversa skewered the sword through Traino's mid back, no doubt puncturing a lung. The old man was bleeding through the mouth; he looked down at his injury ignoring the fact that his glasses slid down his nose. King Gangrel kept his back to the two with his arms folded across his chest. "Don't act so surprised," said Plegia's King. "You've gotten what you wanted, haven't you?"

"S-Suppose… I have…" Traino choked out.

He fell to the floor, the sword still pierced into him. His eyes were unfocused, it was a struggle for him to breathe. But he could see them, they were waiting for him. If he could just get up he would finally be in their arms again. If he could just…

Traino exhaled, his heart would no longer beat. "Get someone to clean this up," ordered Gangrel. "I will not have him ruin my courtyard!"

* * *

As soon as the King was distracted he threw his weapons to the ground. He signaled for the four junior soldiers beside him to follow and they hurried to the wasteland below the execution site. They were left largely ignored by their fellows for one reason or another, which only made their mission far more easier.

The sight was far from pretty, the body landed face-down, no doubt disfigured by the impact. Emmeryn's limbs were twisted at odd angles, and her robe had been torn. One could only imagine what her front looked like.

The two strongest of the four soldiers, or perhaps they were ex-soldiers now, placed a plank of wood beside the body. "Be gentle with her," the ringleader of the five ordered as the body was carefully placed onto the plank. "She's been through enough for one day."

"What are we going to do with her?" asked the youngest of the five.

"Right now we need to focus on keeping her out of Gangrel's hands. Then we'll focus on smuggling her back to Ylisse. I think we can all agree she should be buried on Ylissean ground, yes?"

* * *

Between both royals and Frederick being miles away it left Anali as the go-to leader for the time being. She followed close behind the Khan's, holding onto Chrom's hand all the while. Lissa clung onto Maribelle's back like her life depended on it. It was near impossible to tell if Lissa was still crying, or if it was just the sudden downpour. The fact that her face was red and puffy suggested she was. Sully and Stahl kept Frederick on track, though it was clear he was berating himself internally.

The rain had soaked through Anali's clothes surprisingly fast, but she did her best to ignore the chill. Basilio explained that he had a few carriages waiting for them beyond the upcoming ravine. They were less than a mile away from their destination when a line of Plegian soldiers blocked their path. "Couldn't be that easy…" Basilio muttered under his breath. "Looks like we'll have to fight our way through."

Overhead was a wyvern carrying two people on it's back, its rider, and another person. "Ylisseans," the second man, Mustafa declared. "I offer you mercy! Surrender to me now and you will live to see morning!"

Basilio scoffed. "Surrender? Sorry, 'fraid I don't know the meaning of the word."

"Emmeryn would not have wished for this to come to bloodshed."

Chrom reacted, snapping out of his stupor. He step forward, perhaps with the intention of lunging forward. But Anali pushed herself against him. "Don't speak her name!"

His outburst did nothing to affect Mustafa. If anything the man had nothing but sympathy. "Your rage is justified, Prince Chrom, but the meaning of your sister's final sacrifice was not lost on me. I suspect many of my people who heard her final words would say the same. If you lay down your weapons, I vow to protect you as best I can."

"After everything your King has done?! I'd put my own sword through my being first!"

Mustafa sighed. "I suspected you would say as much. So be it then, Prince Chrom. I shall endeavor to grant you a swift and dignified end."

With one signal Mustafa's men went onto the attack. Anali pulled her sword out of its sheath with reluctance. She did not want to fight, not now, not like this. What was the point? More needless deaths? More blood on the sand? Wasn't there enough for one day?

But she didn't have much of a choice in the matter. As the chief tactician it was her job to keep the others alive. She already failed once today, she couldn't afford to lose anyone else. So, Anali forced her emotions down as she slashed her blade through the soldier's chest. Now was not the time to get emotional.

* * *

Frederick devoted his life to the royal family, just as his father, and his father's father had done. He was a Cavalier since he was ten, and a Great Knight before his twenty-first year. Ever since Lady Emmeryn had taken the throne Frederick was the personal guard to Chrom and Lissa. He took his duty very seriously. But Lady Emmeryn…

Lady Emmeryn should _never_ have been put in such a position. She should have _never_ been in danger, and Chrom and Lissa should _never_ have had to go through what they did. Had Frederick failed in his duty?

Was this what his father had gone through when Exalt Calhoun and Queen Silvia died? Utterly useless?

* * *

Why did it seem like the best people in this world had the shittiest luck?

Sully was hardly a woman who would be poised or graceful, but there was something to commend someone who stuck to their guns no matter what. People like that did not bullshit their way through life.

That was how Sully could describe Lady Emmeryn; she was genuine. Her words were more than just hot air. When Emmeryn said she would bring the soldiers home fifteen years ago, she _meant_ it. So when Lady Emmeryn needed help the most…

Damn it! Why did it have to come to this?

* * *

There should have been more Sumia could have done. She should have just risked it all and flown straight for her. She should have just grabbed Lady Emmeryn and flew straight for Ylisstol. Sumia could have evaded the arrows, couldn't she?

No, Captain Phila would have scolded her for acting rash and just painting a larger target on herself and Lady Emmeryn.

Captain Phila…

The realization that Captain Phila was dead hit Sumia in the gut like a fist. While she commanded the entire fleet Phila always had a little more patients with Sumia than most others.

No. She needed to focus on the now. Sumia need to keep the others safe, and get the Captain and Princess Lissa to safety. So, she tightened her grip on the lance, and urged Rosella towards the nearest Wyvern Rider.

* * *

He was not in the business of fooling himself. Donnel knew that there was a chance that he, or his friends could die in battle. But the Exalt herself? Gods…

The people of his village had nothing but respect for Exalt Emmeryn, she was the one who turned the Farfort, something intended to be a prison camp for war prisoners, into a flourishing community. Something bad, possibly even devastating, was turned into something good. But the Exalt showed no fear in the end, not even for a moment. And here Donnel thought he couldn't have any more respect for her than he did.

Donnel was forced to duck when Tharja forced his head down. Her dark magic sailed above his head, striking down the soldier who took aim for Donnel's head. With a 'hmph,' Tharja snapped her tome closed. "You disserved worse," she said while eyeing the fallen soldier.

* * *

Maribelle smacked everyone she could with her parasol. Aversa's taunts from a few days ago bounced around in her head. Maybe if she stayed put that day none of this would have happened.

No, right now Maribelle needed to keep these filthy paws off her treasure, she needed to protect her from the world.

* * *

Lon'qu was not quite sure what to feel at the moment, and he imagined Virion, Tharja, Panne, and maybe Gregor, were in the same boat. Emmeryn was not his queen, so her loss did not carry the same weight as it did for the others. But she was nothing short of honorable.

What Gangrel did was beyond low. It was disgusting, a cowards play.

* * *

Kellam stayed close to Vaike as the blonde forced his way through Plegia's soldiers. This seemed pointless to him. Here they were battling in the rain against soldiers who seemed genuinely hesitant. Shouldn't they be fighting on the same side and remove Gangrel from the throne? Couldn't the soldiers just pretend they didn't see the Shepherds? "Hey!" Vaike shoved Kellam to the ground as the Elwind spell missed them. "Get your head outta the clouds!"

"S-Sorry…" Kellam replied dumbly.

Getting up, Vaike offered a hand to Kellam. There was a look in Vaike's eyes that Kellam rarely saw. The same thoughts that plagued Kellam plagued Vaike as well.

* * *

The pounding rain hardly effected Mustafa. He truly did not want to battle these people, if he had it his way the Ylissean's would be free to go wherever they pleased. But not only were Mustafa's hands tied behind his back, his neck was in the noose and he was waiting to be shoved off .

"Forgive me, sir," one of his soldiers spoke up. His hands trembled, but he still kept his back straight. "I… I no longer see the justice in hunting these people down. I will accept any punishment you see fit, but after all that's happened today I… I just can't."

"How dare you question the general's orders!" barked a Wyvern Rider. "You know full well the punishment for insubordination is death!"

"B-But… These people are just-"

Mustafa held up one hand, silencing both of his soldiers. "These questions are not ours to ponder, lad," he said ruefully. "The soldier does not judge. The soldier delivers judgment."

His soldier just shook his head. "Sir," he said almost pitifully. "I just… I cannot raise my lance against them. Even… Even if it means death."

Mustafa felt a small smirk tug at his lips. "You were there when Emmeryn spoke, weren't you?" he asked knowingly. When his soldier nodded yes, his mind was made up. He shouted to everyone within earshot, "All right, those of you unwilling to fight are dismissed!"

"Sir!" shouted the soldier who brought the issue up. "Please, I do not wish to abandon you!"

"Lad, if it were up to me, this conflict would not be. But I cannot defy the King. I know him well. He would not hesitate to murder my wife and children just to set an example. I will personally take the blame for your actions today."

"But general, I now see a cause worth fighting for. One I believe in; loyalty to my general!"

Had the situation been different, Mustafa would have thrown his head back in laughter and pat the soldier on the back. Damn Gangrel, these men should have been serving someone worth their loyalty and devotion. "That's a good lad…"

* * *

Liam should have been better. He should have been honest with the others, he should have made an effort to show Lady Emmeryn his gratitude. The last few months had been the best months of his life, and it was because of the Exalt. Abet indirectly. Was it to late now? To late to open up while they were still here? To late to give Lady Emmeryn his gratitude?

He threw himself forward, shielding Ricken from a stray arrow. No, it was not too late. It was never too late.

* * *

For once, Stahl just wasn't hungry. The pit of his stomach was empty, but it was not yearning. This day was just… awful. Just awful. They should have been heading home to Ylisstol with Emmeryn. They should have been swapping stories, and having a good drink of mead when they got home. They should not have been spilling more blood.

The cry of a wyvern stole Stahl's attention. Cordelia was battling against a Rider who was throwing axes at her. Quickly, Stahl grabbed a javelin from a fallen soldier. He hurled it up at the Wyvern Rider. Both wyvern and soldier fell to the ground in a heavy heap; Stahl could see Cordelia wave down a him in a gesture of gratitude.

* * *

This was not how it was supposed to happen. Elaine was supposed to repay Lady Emmeryn for her help in the castle, then maybe everything would have meant something. She was able to escape at all because of Lady Emmeryn. How many people had do die because of this stupid war?

She felt Gaius grab her by the arm and bring her close to him. He had successfully protected her from an oncoming sword. Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it. Why did something have to happen to such a good woman? Weren't the gods suppose to smite the wicked or something like that? Gaius just did not understand any of it.

* * *

So much death… And a good portion of it was on his hand. Gods forgive him.

Libra had marched to rescue Lady Emmeryn with the others in his congregation. He was essentially forced to watch them all fall, and Libra was to continue on his own. Hope had returned to him when he met with the Prince, but all of their efforts were for naught. Libra would repent by keeping safe the brother and sister the Exalt loved so.

Half of his body felt cold for a moment. Nowi had released her breath, a great help to Libra who was fighting against a muscle bound soldier.

* * *

Chrom virtually left a trail of corpses and blood in his wake. No one who wore Plegian colors were given any mercy. Why should they? They were all part of Gangrel's army, they had blame to share for Emm's fate.

He found Mustafa, almost waiting for him. His hand was on the hilt of his sword, but he did not remove it.

Most of his men were dead now, it was clear the Ylissean's had won, but if Mustafa instructed his men to stand down he knew what Gangrel would do to his family. Or, perhaps, his men's surviving families, if Gangrel was in the 'right mood.' "If you wish to keep your lives, you must win them," said Mustafa. He was unflinching, but still did not remove his sword from his sheath.

"I plan to!" snapped Chrom.

* * *

Anali tried to ignore the icy chill as she took a head count. They were in the clear, the soldiers were dead, they could finally escape Plegia. The Shepherds were huddled together, some had already put their weapons away, some helped their comrades up onto their feet. Lissa was still with Maribelle, good. Frederick still had his head. And Chrom…

Where was Chrom?

The sounds of an enraged battle cry echoed around the area, at least one of the horses started dancing. Anali ran, panic rushing through her. _Why_ did she allow Chrom out of her sight? He clearly wasn't in his right mind, there was no telling what he was getting himself into.

Damn it!

She found him by the pathway to the ravine, along with a trail of blood. Chrom was standing over the body of the Plegian general, Mustafa's head had been removed from his body. Apparently, that wasn't enough for Chrom, as he repeatedly forced Falchion into Mustafa's shoulder, as though he were trying to use the sword to saw it off.

What was he…?

"Chrom!" Anali shouted. She bolted in front of him, just as he rose Falchion above his head, ready for another strike. "Chrom, it's over! It's-"

Like lightning, the blade sliced through the skin of her cheek. Anali stumbled back, she flinched. Blood started to seep down her face in an instant. She looked back up at Chrom, and immediately shrunk back.

The look in Chrom's face scared her. The warm man who trusted her without question, her dearest friend, legitimately scared her. But this person before her, wasn't him. The Chrom Anali knew would never have such a murderous look in his eye like this. He would never desecrate someone's body like this.

"Chrom…"

Chrom blinked when he saw the blood slide down Anali's cheek. Had… Had he done that? Slowly, the realization dawned on him. Had the depths of his rage truly blinded him so much? "Anali…" he exhaled, "I… I didn't…"

He flinched when Anali wrapped her arms around him. "It's over," she said firmly. "You hear me? It's _over_. It's done."

Falchion slipped out of Chrom's hand, it landed on the ground with a dull clutter. It was like his body acted on its own when we wrapped his arms around Anali and wept into the crook of her neck. She allowed him to, quite literally, cry on her shoulder. She did her best to ignore the ach in her right leg and the lightheadedness she felt at the moment. Or the fact that the others had found them and were staring at them.

She knew they could not stay much longer. That they needed to go before Gangrel found his general dead. "Chrom," Anali said softly. "We need to go now."

"Khan Basilio!"

Anali looked over her shoulder to see a young woman in a thick brown cloak standing by the ravine. She carried a lantern in her hand, shedding light on the darkening field. Even though her hood was up Anali could see tendrils of pink hair peeking out. "Olivia!" called Basilio. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"When I didn't hear from you, I thought…" Olivia shook her head. "I assumed the worst."

Chrom straightened himself up and stared at the woman. "Chrom, Anali," said Basilio. He stood at the pairs side. "Meet Olivia. She'll be smuggling us out of here."

"Only if you hurry!" Olivia stressed. "Doubtless more of the Mad King's men are on their way."

"Right," Basilio agreed. He turned back to the Shepherds. "Pile in, you lot! We're finally headed out of here."

There were four horse-drawn carriages waiting for those who did not have a mound. Anali allowed Chrom, who had grabbed Falchion again, to be seated with Lissa. Anali seated herself with Nowi, Panne, Libra, and Olivia. As soon as they were in the carriage Olivia lowered her hood revealing long pink hair that was done up in a high ponytail. "I assume the rescue mission was a failure," Olivia said quietly. "Khan Basilio had me at the ready should things go wrong."

Anali nodded. "Yeah, it was. I should have… I should have been better."

"Oh!" Olivia gasped, bringing a hand to her mouth. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to imply-"

"You'd be implying correctly, then. I didn't even consider those stupid Risen…"

"None of us could have," Libra said kindly. "There is still much about those monsters we know nothing about."

"It's my job to think of every possible thing that could go wrong," Anali brought a hand to her eyes. Her shoulders shuttered. "Those damnable things never crossed my mind… I should have…"

Everything finally came out, the fear she swallowed since she devised the plan, the pressure the mission brought upon her, the guilt she was feeling now, it flowed out of her. Olivia froze, unsure of what to do, comforting strangers was all around awkward. Even Libra was unsure about what to do, and Panne was at more of a loss than the other two.

Nowi, on the other hand, sat herself on her knees and wrapped an arm around Anali's shoulders. She lead Anali's head down so that it was rested on Nowi's lap. The Manakete gently ran her fingers through one of Anali's pigtails as she cried, a very motherly gesture. A reminder that Nowi was far older than she looked.

* * *

Anali was all cried out by the time they made it to castle Ferox. She stumbled onto the ground when she stepped out of the carriage, momentarily dizzy. She hugged herself as she followed the group inside the castle, why was it so cold inside? Everyone was somber. They were wet, tired, and possibly even broken. "So now what, oaf?" Flavia asked.

"Don't look at me," said Basilio. "_I'm_ not in charge!"

Flavia let out a 'tsk.' "Picked a fine time to regain the full throne…"

Anali allowed her eyes to wander up to Chrom. He was silent, eyes sunken in, but he seemed much, _much_ calmer than he did earlier. "Chrom," Anali spoke up. "I'm… I'm so sorry. My plan wasn't enough."

Closing his eyes he pat her on the shoulder. "You did your best, Anali," he told her. "You have my thanks. It's my own failures that haunt me now. I was just so powerless!"

"It wasn't your fault either, Chrom!"

"She did it for _me_, Anali. So that I wouldn't have to live with the guilt of either choice, she chose for me. She sacrificed herself rather than give up what could one day save her people…"

"Chrom… listen to me," said Anali. She stood up on the balls of her feet, and clasped Chrom by the face, forcing him to look straight at her. "Look at me. I was powerless once, too, remember? And yes, alone, I doubt either of us is half the person your sister was. But together maybe we can be something more.

"If you fall, I'll be there to pull you back up. When you fight for your sister's ideals, I'll be right there by your side. None of us are asking you to be your sister. You can still be Chrom. You just have to give people hope in a way you can. And from where I stand, you've already been doing that."

Chrom stared straight at Anali as though she were an agent of salvation. Her cheek had stopped bleeding, but it looked like it might leave a scar. Even with the wound she looked just as beautiful as the time they danced together. She wasn't so unsure of herself as the day they met, her voice was full of conviction, he almost believed her right off the bat.

He placed a hand over one of Anali's. "And what if I can't? he asked. "What if I'm not worthy of her ideals? Anali… what if I drag you down with me?"

"Then we'll just keep working at it until you are," she said immediately. "And if we both fall down, well, that's what friends are for."

"That's right!" Nowi spoke up. "Who knows what'd happen to me right now if not for you!"

"You gave me your trust, and now you have mine." Tharja added quickly, "For the time being."

"Were you unworthy, I would have left a long time ago," Lon'qu said bluntly.

"It took great courage and charisma to unite all of us," Virion said dramatically. "I knew I possessed such talents, but clearly you do as well!"

"Yeah," agreed Ricken. "We all look up to you! You're like a hero to us."

Chrom kept Anali's hand in his own, even after she let go of his face. "Thank you, everyone," he said. "Your words mean more than you could know. There is still work to be done. Gangrel must be stopped so that peace can once again reign in Ylisse. Will you help me?"

"Count me in!" Lissa exclaimed. Her face was still a little puffy, and her pigtails were weighed down by the water that still clung to her, but none of that seemed to bother her. "I'm tired of crying all the time. It's time to start punchin' stuff!"

"Hear, hear, darling!" Maribelle agreed, patting Lissa on the head. "Our people have suffered enough."

"I would gladly fight and die for House Ylisse!" exclaimed Stahl.

"And I would gladly fight and kill those dastards for House Ylisse!" Sully cracked her knuckles as she spoke.

"Our hearts echo yours, sire." Smiled Libra.

"I will be the unbreakable shield by your side!" Sumia declared.

"I'm with you, too!" shouted Kellam. "You know. Just in case anyone… Hello?"

"I will fight, too," said Elaine. "Too much blood has been shed all ready."

"Teach is here and class is in session!" boasted Vaike.

"How much you pay Gregor?" asked the sellsword. "Gregor only making joke!"

"I will do my best to fight alongside you, sire," said Liam. "Let it be with the blade or with my lyre."

"Your sister earned my respect. The last taguel shall champion her," said Panne.

"You have grown strong, milord," Frederick said thoughtfully. "I may have set a poor example as a knight… But I swear to you, I shall die before any more Exalted blood is spilled!"

Smiling slight, Chrom closed his eyes. "Thank you all. Truly. You honor me with your fealty." His eyes snapped open. "I will not falter again. We shall answer this outrage! The Mad King must be stopped!"

"Right!" Beamed Flavia. "It's about time for ol' Gangrel to get a dose of his own vulnerary! The whole of the Feroxi army is yours to send crashing against him!"

"You young folk - your passions run so hot! If I had any gray hairs, you would've singed 'em right off," said Basilio. "In other words, count me in!"

"E-Excuse me," Olivia spoke up. Her face started to turn red as she fiddled with her fingers. "I'd like to go, too, if I may. The Exalt did me a kindness once. I would honor me to have a part in giving her justice! Although all I can do is dance… And I'm not so skilled in that, if we're being honest…"

Basilio burst out laughing. "She's too modest!" he said, taking her by the shoulder. "Olivia is a Feroxi treasure. You won't meet a finer dancer in all the realms. You'd do well to bring her along, Commander."

"'Commander?'" Chrom repeated. "What happened to 'boy?'"

"You've earned your way up from that name, I think. Now, where were we? Oh yes! I was just about to start cracking skulls! Flavia will lead me and the other Feroxi in a head-on assault. That should buy you enough time to take down Gangrel. Hear that, boy? You get the fun part!"

"I thought you weren't going to call me-"

"You and Anali have my every confidence," Basilio said, standing in between the two. "You're a born leader, and she has a knack for guiding troops to victory."

He slapped Anali on the back, causing her to whine out a little, "Ow."

"You both have some growing to do yet," added Basilio. "But I can already see you'll grow tall."

"Thank you, Basilio," said Chrom.

One by one, the Shepherds filed off to the mess hall for a bit of much needed food. Sthal, having found his appetite again, lead the way. Chrom could feel Anali's hand leave his as she walked off, but he tightened his grip on her. "Anali."

"Huh?" she turned to look back at him.

"Thank you."

A gentle smile crossed her face. "You're welcome."

Chrom stood frozen in place when Anali walked off to the mess hall. Her smile was still fresh in his mind as the same question repeated itself over and over.

When did being close to her start to make his heart soar?

* * *

Unlike their previous visits, the Shepherds were allowed bedding in Castle Ferox. Anali found herself bunking with Cordelia, Nowi, and Miriel. She was just about exhausted, physically and emotionally.

Exhaling, Anali pulled her boots off and leaned herself back. She could not wait to get under the covers, she was freezing. Nowi was dressed in a spare tunic that was far too big for her, but she said that it was more than comfortable. And then there was Miriel, who still kept her hat on even when she was in her nightdress. "Anali!" gasped Cordelia. "What happened?"

"What happened?" she echoed.

Cordelia pointed to the floor, which prompted Anali to look down. Her right ankle had swollen, the skin around the bite marks were beginning to turn purple. "Ew!" squirmed Nowi. "Seriously, what happened?"

"I was bitten by a lizard yesterday," said Anali. She brought her ankle onto her left knee to get a better look at it.

"I would seriously get that looked at," said Cordelia, "I think it might be infected."

"I'll dress it," said Anali. "Dress it, keep it elevated, good as new."

"When you loose that foot, maybe," sighed Miriel.

"I'm not going to loose it! I just want to get a bit of sleep."

Cordelia gripped her chin. Anali really should have her ankle looked at, but maybe she really was just worrying over nothing. She would have to keep an eye on Anali, just to be safe.

* * *

Sumia stifled a yawn, this day was long and tiring for everyone involved. Despite her own dreariness, Sumia really wanted to give Chrom and Anali a good nights sleep. Her brow furrowed as she thought back to their escape from Plegia. Sumia had Rosella glide along side one of the carriages, the same one Anali was in. She had heard their tactician crying.

In that moment, Sumia was grateful she wasn't in Anali's position. She never realized that her friend carried the weight of everyone on her shoulders. Every strategy was meant to keep them alive. If something went wrong, it was because of her idea. And this mission was not just any mission; it was one to save the Exalt. But Anali was far from heartless, she cared enough to keep everyone alive, and she shed tears for the life that was lost today. "She will make a good queen," Sumia whispered to herself.

"What was that?"

Sumia would have fallen over, if not for the quick arm that caught her. Frederick pulled Sumia upright until he was sure she was steady on her feet. "My apologies," said Frederick.

"No, it's my fault," said Sumia. "I'm on night watch and I should have been more watchful. I guess I've been… thinking… about today…"

Frederick heaved a heavy sigh. "I believe we all are, I keep thinking about what I could have done differently."

"None of us could have done anything," Sumia said reassuringly. She placed a hand on Fredericks shoulder. "And Lady Emmeryn would never have wanted any of us to die for her, especially if it was preventable."

"It is my job as a knight to protect the royal family."

"And you're doing that. Chrom and Lissa are safe. Here…"

Without warning, Sumia placed the palm of her hand against Fredericks forehead. She rubbed her hand against the skin, an action that greatly confused Frederick. "What are you doing?"

"Erasing the memory," Sumia told him. "Just enough so you can focus on your job, but you'll still know what's going on."

Frederick smiled. He took Sumia's hand into his own, then brought her knuckles to his lips. A pink blush appeared on Sumia's pale face, her fingers on her opposite hand lightly touched her lip. "Thank you, milady," he said kindly.

* * *

The next day Anali was freezing. It was the middle of a Feroxi summer, it was the warmest time of the year, but Anali felt like it was winter. She searched the castle high and lowe for Chrom, but he was nowhere to be seen. Anali knew nothing bad had happened to him because Frederick wasn't tearing the castle apart, so where was he? It wasn't as though she would take him long, she just wanted to double check the number of Feroxi soldiers.

'_Clearly, he's avoiding you,' _said a little voice in her head. Anali shook her head. She braced her hand against the wall, dizziness hitting her.

In the library she found Panne and Gregor conversing. Or more like Panne was telling him off for protecting her in battle when she had it taken care of herself. "Sorry," said Anali, "did I come at a bad time?"

"None at all," Gregor said with a slight shrug. "Gregor just explaining self to Panne. Anything we be helping you with?"

"Yeah…" Anali's voice trailed off. She braced one hand against the table they sat at, another wave of dizziness slammed into her. "I was… I was just looking for Chrom..."

"I have not seen him," said Panne. She listed her head to the side, brow furrowing. "Are you feeling okay, Anali?"

"Never better." She laid both hands flat on the table, steadying herself on her feet.

Unconvinced, Gregor tilted his head to the side, his arms were held crossed over his chest. "You be sure?" he asked. "You trembling like newborn fawn."

"I'm freezing," Anali said bluntly. "Do you know where Chrom is, Gregor?"

"Gregor no see him. Can you look straight at Gregor?"

"Why?" She obeyed anyway. Gods, why was the castle so cold? She knew the weather was fridged year-round but this was damn ridiculous.

"Not good, not good." Gregor shook his head as he spoke. "Chills. Eyes bloodshot. Tell Gregor, did Anali come into contact with anything last few days?"

"Um…" Anali raked a hand through her bangs. "A-A lizard bit me on the ankle, just before you and Nowi joined."

"This lizard black with yellow spots, yes?"

"Yeah…"

"Oy, is so terrible!" gasped Gregor. "You suffer dangerous infection carried by Plegian Yellow-back! We must render treatment with no delay."

Immediately, Panne rose onto her feet. "Is it dangerous?"

"Gregor fear Anali's life is at stake."

"What are you talking about?" Anali asked, trying to put on a smile. "I'm fin-nnngh…"

Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, Anali fell to her knees, arms and head flailing like a rag doll. She would have landed on the floor entirely had Gregor not leapt forward, quick to catch her. He gathered Anali effortlessly into his arms. "Panne, you be knowing where healer is?" he asked. "Gregor fear time is of essence."

* * *

**Authors Note: **She's 'fin-nnngh' guys, she's 'fin-nnngh.'

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter Thirteen  
Drowning**

When Vaike had come to Chrom looking for another one of their friendly little competitions they somehow ended up in a cooking contest. Chrom, admittedly, had very little experience with cooking, but surely it couldn't have been that different from roasting bear on an open fire.

However, with one bite alone from Chrom's goulash Vaike's head slammed onto the surface of the table. Chrom inspected Vaike to find his eyes had rolled back as far as they could go, and he was drooling out of the corner of his mouth. Perhaps Chrom should have gone easy on the seasoning… and maybe he should have made sure the tomato's and beef were still good. But it looked like Chrom had won, regardless. No one said the winner had to make the best dish, with Vaike down for the count, Chrom won by default.

"There you are!"

Chrom whipped around to find Maribelle walking to him in long strides. "Some of us, I'm sure you can guess who, were just about ready to tear this castle apart looking for you," Maribelle ranted. "You would think someone of your class would be easier to find, even in a foreign castle. I'm not sure why no one thought to look in the-"

Chrom tried to suppress a smile. At first glance Lissa and Mairbelle's friendship was a particularly odd one. But Chrom knew the clicked together through moments like this. "Maribelle. Was someone looking for me?"

Maribelle sucked in a breath. She bit her lower lip and cast her eyes downwards. "Y-Yes, I'm afraid," she said while wringing her hands together. "You're… You're being summoned to the castle infirmary."

Instantly, Chrom's brow furrowed. "Why? What's wrong."

Maribelle's hands shot up, fingers outspread, as thought trying to defend herself from a dangerous blast. "Now, I'm afraid I don't know the whole story," she said quickly. "Do keep in mind I only know the barest of minimals."

"Which is…?"

Slowly, Maribelle inhaled, then blurted out quickly, "Anali collapsed in the library."

Chrom went cold. "What?"

"Khan Flavia and Khan Basilio are waiting for you at the infirmary. They would know more about it than I."

"Show me, please."

"Of course."

He followed Mairbelle though the hall, which suddenly felt longer than they were less than an hour ago.

Anali collapsed?

But she looked perfectly fine the last time Chrom saw her. She looked rather tied, yes, but so wasn't everyone else. Actually, now that Chrom thought about it, Anali did look pale. And she was trembling, something Chrom chalked up to the rain. But was that really enough to make a person collapse?

Why was he worrying? Anali just overworked herself. The past couple of days were no easier on her than they were Chrom himself. Yes. That's it, she just overworked herself. And Chrom was going to be told that Anali needed to take it easy.

The Khan's waited in the hallway with an older woman in white clerical clothing. Flavia stood, impatiently tapping her foot as she stood with her arms over her chest. Basilio was a little more held together, but was clearly distressed. His good eye wandered to find Chrom approaching them, he exhaled, "There you are."

"What happened?" Chrom asked immediately.

"A Plegian yellow-back happened, boy. It would appear Anali was on the receiving end of one."

A Plegian… what? That black lizard that bit her the other day? But Anali was just fine after that. "I've heard of them," said Flavia, "the victim dies a slow, painful death."

A slow, painful death? "So, Anali is dying?" demanded Chrom.

The Cleric cleared her throat, stealing the attention of all three of them. "With the medicine we have here at our disposal, the best we can do is make her as comfortable as possible. The venom from a Plegian yellow-back makes the body overheat, which is what ultimately kills the victim. Now, there is a chance we could reduce the fever and Anali could fight it herself… If she was treated as soon as she received the bite. From my understanding, that was two days ago. I'm honestly not that optimistic her body can fight it-"

"_Shut up!"_ Chrom snapped before he could stop himself. Why was this woman talking as though it were over and done with? They just said Anali collapsed, she wasn't dead, they could still cure her. "Just… Just shut up! Why the hell are you wasting time telling us all of this when you should be giving Anali your full attention?! _She's_ the one who needs it! Shouldn't you be doing everything you can to keep her alive?!"

Basilio's lips pulled back, he understood where Chrom was coming from. But a man does not talk to a woman of the cloth like this! So, he ground his fist into Chrom's head. "Calm down, boy! Don't go shooting the messenger, got it?"

Chrom grit his teeth while he rubbed his head. Yes, he was being childish, getting angry at the cleric was not going to help anyone. She was just doing her job, everything she could. If anything, Chrom was angry with the situation. "Olga," Flavia began, addressing the cleric. "Isn't there anything that can be done?"

Olga nodded. "As I said before, we don't have the proper medicine for her. But it does exist in Regna Ferox. The best remedy for a yellow-back bite is the yvaine blossom. And I just happen to know a woman who grows them."

Thanks goodness, there was a chance. "Where is it?" asked Chrom. "I'll get it myself if I have to."

"In the village Thranduil, look for a woman named Tatiana. She is used to people asking for her flowers just for this sort of occasion. If you ask I'm sure she will give you as many as we need."

"Thranduil…" Basilio said thoughtfully. "To get there and back is a three-day journey, provided you leave early enough and don't run into trouble."

Turning on his heel Chrom walked down the hall. "I'll get it in half the time," he said firmly.

* * *

When Frederick heard about the situation he had some reservations. For starters Chrom was insistent about getting the blossoms in a day and a-half, maybe in even less time. And then when the Prince declared that he would go alone Frederick sat him down and calmly suggested they gather the Shepherds then explain that Anali is sick and possibly dying. He would ask for volunteers to go and to stay, then they would leave for the village in the morning.

Chrom was insistent that they leave as soon as possible, but ultimately agreed. During dinner Frederick relayed the news to the others. He asked for volunteers, but also encouraged several to stay behind to watch Anali, and help the Khan should Ferox be under siege. Tharja just about shot onto her feet with a hand in the air. "I volunteer to stay!"

There was a bit of an awkward silence after that before volunteers for either side flooded out. Chrom was somewhat happy with the outcome. At least Donnel, Elaine, Libra, and Nowi would be staying at the castle as well. At least it wouldn't just be Anali and Tharja.

Because time was not exactly something they could afford they were going to travel lightly and make haste. The goal was to be quick but be reasonable. But there was a very minor problem; they lacked a tactician now. "I think Virion might due as a substitute," Stahl pointed out. "He is usually Anali's opponent for her strategy game."

"Quite true," said the blue haired archer. "However I will admit that you will have my head on a pike after but one conflict."

"We're aiming to avoid conflict," Chrom assured him. "But if it is unavoidable I will turn to you for assistance at minimal."

"We're gonna die…" he heard Gaius mumble.

Chrom tried to ignore his jape. The Shepherds fought plenty of battles before they found Anali, one possible battle without her guidance was not going to kill them. However it would be comforting…

Everyone was encouraged to turn in early, but Chrom, instead, found himself in the infirmary. This time around, he actually saw Anali. She was a sleep, curled up and shivering in one of the cots. Olga explained the victim often suffered from severe chills. The evidence of a fever was written all over her face, from the flush that traveled from ear to ear, to the sweat on her brow.

There was a basin of water and a cloth by her bedside table. Chrom contemplated for a moment on whether or not he should do something. He ultimately decided against it, given how 'gentle' he could be, all he would do is succeed in waking her when she needed as much rest as she could get.

Tendrils of hair fanned out around her, no longer in their usual pigtails. She must have had three blankets over her, but she was still shivering, and the red in her face suggested she would be warm to the touch. Anali looked so… fragile now. She was suffering, and there wasn't a damn thing Chrom could do about it.

It was almost four months to the day since they first met, and from Chrom's perspective, their relationship suddenly became a complicated one. He was beginning to realize how light he usually felt when Anali was near him. Even if they were having a serious discussion, it was like he could share anything with her and she would listen without judging. He wished she could do the same with him.

This sudden complication could ruin their friendship, however. That was something Chrom was not willing to risk. This would be the one thing Chrom would keep to himself, it was better that way. But seeing Anali like this, sugaring and vulnerable, just made him feel so powerless again. If she died… if she died…

"Just…" Chrom uttered under his breath. He pushed his bangs back, struggling to find the words. Carefully, he brought his lips to Anali's ear and whispered, "Don't let go… I can't lose you, too."

* * *

_The plain I stand on is dark; the moon does not shine, and the stars don't twinkle. The land is somewhat flooded after a heavy rain, I vaguely notice how clean the air smells. I walk idly forward, completely aimless; my steps echo with each splash. Am I here for some reason?_

_A sudden scream startles me. I whip around to see a little girl running in my direction. She stumbles slightly, but quickly catches herself and continues. I can't see her face, her bangs cover her eyes, but her pigtails trail behind her. I can hear the girl's pitiful whimpers, and I am positive she's crying. Decency says I should go help her, but I find I cannot move._

_The girl stops as the water ripples around her. Three hands shoot out from the water, the girl screams. I feel two of the hands hold my arms to the side, the third hand wraps itself firmly around my neck, then it squeezes. I try to shake my arms free, to pry them out so I can remove the third hand from my neck, but all three of them prove too strong for me._

_It's like the ground beneath my feet has vanished, I'm dragged down underwater. Like choking to death wasn't enough. To some relief, I feel the hands on my arms leave me. Then hand around my neck begins to form an arm, then a body. I cannot make out any defining features, just long hair floating around the person. When the figure opens their eyes, I am met with three sets of glowing red eyes._

'_Why do you still resist?'_

Anali woke up, coughing and hacking. She sat up, still heaving with one hand around her neck. She felt something rub against her back, a hand perhaps. "Easy," Flavia said over her coughing fit. "Easy there."

Anali cleared her throat a few times before she allowed herself to breathe. She had a vague recollection of where she was, Castle Ferox's infirmary. Likewise, she had a vague recollection of her situation. Anali got the basic idea, she was ill and could potentially die. "So, you finally decided to join the living," Flavia joked from her bedside. She had pulled up a chair to sit at beside Anali's cot.

"Where's… where's Chrom?" Anali asked, shivering. "We should… discuss strategy…"

"He's not here. Chrom and the others have got in search of a flower to make into an antidote for you."

"What?! No!" Those idiots! What were they thinking?!

Anali tossed her blankets off and swung her legs over. Immediately, Flavia stood up and placed both hands on Anali's shoulders, forcing her back down. "Let me go!" demanded Anali. "I have to-"

"Anali, I swear if you don't lie down on your own I'll have the oaf sit on you!" Flavia said firmly. "They're still in Feroxi territory, so the most trouble they'll run into is Risen."

Laying back, Anali pressed her palms to her eyes and fought back a few sobs. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid," she choked out. This was her own fault. She had to go and get sick, now the pending Exalt and his army were putting himself in needless danger. "They should have just made a break for Ylisstol and left me behind."

Flavia unsubtly scoffed. "Okay, don't even think of pulling that 'wo, is me crap.' It doesn't look good on you. Or anyone else for that matter."

"Don't you get it?!" Anali snapped, she dropped her fist onto the mattress, feeling dizzy as she did so. "I'm supposed to be helping them win this war! But instead, I just put the new Exalt into potential danger because I wasn't watching where I stepped! I. Am not. Worth. The trouble!" Warm tears started to cascade down Anali's cheeks, all they did was chill her. "I'm just some nobody with no attachments like the others… They all have responsibilities and families to return to… I don't, no one will miss me, no one will care if I die here, and they all stupidly go out and… and…"

Couldn't those fools see she wasn't worth the effort? What were they even getting themselves into?

To Anali's surprise, Flavia reached out and whipped Anali's tears with the bed of her thumb. "Well, first of all," she began gently, "Chrom's not exactly the Exalt yet. Not officially anyway. And as for not being worth the trouble… I can think of a handful of people who would clearly disagree with that. Don't think for a second that Chrom ordered everyone to go on this mission. It was a volunteer mission. Even those who stayed behind stayed because they thought they could do something here while we wait. There's your attachments.

Sniffling, Anali allowed Flavia to dry her other eye, nor did she protest when Flavia eased her back down and pull the blankets over her. She supposed Flavia had a point, the Shepherds were her attachments. Anali really did love those moments when they were all in the same room. But what was one life when weighed against the masses? Wasn't that reason enough for them to just leave her behind when push comes to shove?

* * *

Elsewhere in the castle Nowi creaked the door open to find Libra on his knees in prayer. He had turned a small, unused room into a makeshift chapel. It gave him a quiet area to offer his prayers for the safe journey of his new comrades, and the full recovery of Anali.

A mischievous grin played upon Nowi's face. She tore the door open, and launched herself inside. "Libra! Give me a piggyback ride!" the Manakete exclaimed. She wrapped her arms around the priests' neck, followed by hooking her legs around his center.

Libra nearly fell over with the unexpected weight to his backside. "Careful there, Nowi! I didn't hear you coming."

"Hm? Hey, what's this?" asked Nowi. She moved Libra's long hair to the side, revealing the neck behind it. "There's some kind of scar on the back of you-"

"Don't touch it!"

Immediately Nowi scampered back, keeping her hands to herself. "S-Sorry," she said quickly. "Does it hurt?"

"N-No, it does not," Libra replied hesitantly. Perhaps he had over reacted. "The wound has long healed…"

"So why don't you want me to touch it?"

"Because it might reopen a deeper wound that yet causes me pain."

Confused, Nowi tilted her head to the side. "You mean inside your neck?"

The priest shook his head. "I'm speaking of a wound of the heart."

Her brow rose and her mouth formed a perfect 'oh.' "But… why does your heart hurt?"

"When I was a child, I was not raised by my parents," Libra explained. He paused for a moment to take a calming breath in. "In truth, I was abandoned by them."

Nowi gasped. "That's terrible! Why would your mother and father do that?!"

"Perhaps they hated me. Perhaps they had a better reason. I have know way of knowing. When they left me, I began to howl most piteously. I had clung to my mother so desperately I had to be forced off. Which is when I sustained the scar."

He was surprised to see large tears pool up in the corners of Nowi's eyes. Her purple eyes were usually quite large and expressive, but the look she gave him made her eyes much larger. Had she not been crying it would have been somewhat comical. "I'm sorry," Libra said with a kind smile. "I never meant to upset you. It is long in the past now."

"I don't care!" Nowi declared as she wiped her eyes. "I'm going to make you feel better!"

"And how will you do that?" Libra asked, somewhat intrigued.

"Just like a cramp," Nowi said with her pointer finger erect. "I'll just rub your heart until the pain goes away!"

The Manakete beamed, immensely proud of herself. But, slowly, her smile died as realization hit her; Nowi really did not know much about the human body. Oh she knew that humans were much weaker than Manakete, or even taguel, and that they needed food and sleep as much as she did. But Nowi did not quite understand where their organs were. For all she knew she had a different anatomy than Libra. "Soooo… Where do humans keep their hearts, anyway?"

"I've spend many years trying to avoid what lies within mine," Libra confessed solemnly. "I admit, I am not sure I could find it if I tried."

"I can help with that, too! First we need to find where your heart is hiding, then we can get rid of the pain together!"

* * *

On the one hand they made some really good time for what was supposed to be a day and a half journey. Having left early in the morning they were just a mile or so away from Thranduil by early to mid afternoon. On the other hand, what they found in that mile outside the village was a bit unexpected. There were caravan's full of goods lined up on the side of the road. At the rear of the line a merchant was patching himself up after what looked like a bloody fight.

Chrom lead his horse up to the merchant before he pulled on the stallion's reigns to stop him. "Excuse me, sir," Chrom spoke up. "Apologies for intruding, but has something happened?"

"I'll say," the merchant said with a heavy sigh. He placed his tunic back on, wincing all the while. At length he added, "A group of bandits have blocked the road to Thranduil. They're demanding a king's ransom in illicit tolls for those who wish to pass. A few of us have tried to band together and fight back, but they have clearly gotten the better of us. It's been more than a week since and none of us have been able to make our rounds in the village."

"Well, this is certainly not good," Chrom heard from behind him. He did not need to turn around to know it was Frederick. "Without the flow of goods the people are likely to starve."

"Which we will not allow to happen," said Chrom. He dismounted his horse and looked up at the merchant. "Can you spread the word and ask them to stay where it's safe."

"Aye I can. If you think you are up for it, stranger. Last I heard, there was a maiden who already went in to fight."

At the halfway point between the caravan settlers and the village a campfire was set ablaze. A group of four sat by the fire with a crate in the middle. There were various items littering the crate as the four played their game. One of the men, a tall fellow dressed in the armor of a Griffin Rider had on a smug smirk as he slapped his cards onto the table. "Royal flush!"

The other three groaned as they threw their cards onto the crate. The Griffin Rider happily slid his winnings into his lap. "I wanna rematch!" snapped one of the players.

"And what are you gonna bet genius?" asked the games winner. "I'd happily take the deed to your house if you had either."

"Daniil!" shouted one the Griffin Rider's mooks.

"What?" the Rider, Daniil asked dully.

"One of our scouts spotted an approaching army."

"Those weak merchants again? Let them try."

"We've recognized them as the Ylissean army, Daniil."

Daniil's brow rose when he heard this. "You don't say." Standing up, Daniil rubbed his gloved hands together. "Well, let's see how much their worth, eh? I'm getting tired of Thranduil anyway. What do you say boys? We take everything these Ylissean's have and pillage Thranduil while we're at it? I hear Valm's nice around this time of year?"

A roar of cheers erupted from the group of thieves until one of them was cut off. The two close to him exclaimed in shock as blood gurgled out of his mouth. The man fell over, staining the snow beneath him red. The red haired woman held her sword at her side, holding it in a reverse grip. She was dressed in red and yellow with a festive collar to match. "Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm afraid this village is closed," the woman said with a flirty wink.

Daniil's brow rose with a keen interest as he looked the woman over. "Well now, aren't you a fetching lady?" he asked pulling his axe out. "And fetching ladies such as yourself tend to fetch good coin."

The woman smiled, but there was a clear sense of mockery behind it. "Careful, love," said the woman. "Us traders are known to make some very deep cuts."

In a flash the woman's blade sliced through the nearest bandit. Damiil's band suddenly broke into two. A small percentage surrounded the woman in red, who did no more than smirk. A tawny griffin landed beside Damiil. "You lot do what you must to her, but don't you dare harm that pretty face of hers," Damiil said mounding the beast. "The rest of you are with me. And try not to damage the merchandise."

It was a risky strategy that Anali would never have put on the table. In all fairness, Virion had warned them. He quickly deduced that the Griffin Rider was their leader, so he had Cordelia and Sumia go for him. The non-mounted units would tackle the heart of the attack, while those on horseback would come to the aid of the red haired maiden protecting the village.

The risk came from the fact that there would be no one on the ground to watch Sumia and Cordelia's backs. And all of the mounted units (not counting Maribelle) to come to the maiden's aid was a bit excessive. While it made sense in that they were faster than everyone else on foot, but only one would have sufficed. The advantage of having a unit on horseback was lost to the group.

The woman, however had done exceptionally well on her own. Her fighting style was vaguely similar to Gaius' but she still made it her own. What may have helped her was that she never stood still.

Cordelia adjusted her grip on her lance. It really seemed like the past few days consisted of one disaster after another. Her squad, Lady Emmeryn, Captain Phila, the failed rescue mission. That was not to say she blamed Anali's plan, it was quite good, it was just Gangrel had a wild card on him. And now they were off trying to find a cure for the tactician's infection when they should have been working on ending this war.

She really did not have a clear opinion on Anali, she seemed nice enough, but Cordelia simply did not know her that well. But Sumia liked her, apparently she had become fast friends with Anali, so she couldn't have been that bad. Even when Cordelia carried a bit of jealousy towards Anali, the one who got to dance with Prince Chrom himself during his birthday, she wasn't bad. Anali did allow Cordelia her privacy when Phila ordered her to go with the Shepherds. Cordelia had mixed feelings towards the tactician, but, in the end she decided that Anali did not deserve to die like this.

But if Anali was ever going to come out of this alive, she needed those flowers in the village. The villagers needed the goods the merchants had and the merchants needed to trade or sell.

She took a chance and approached Daniil. A grin happened upon his face. "And the beauties keep pilling on today," he said. "You'll have to forgive me when I bring you to market. Between you and the other one I'll have enough to live the rest of my life peacefully."

Pig.

"In that case, you'll have to forgive me," Cordelia said aiming her lance. "For this!"

Her Pegasus knew what to do, and when Cordelia wanted him to take off. Just before she finished her sentence he had already sped forward. Cordelia forced her lance into Daniil's chest as far as it could go. Pulling it out, Cordelia rounded herself around in mid-air, and forced the lance through the griffin's wing. "You… bitch!" Daniil choked out.

"Don't forget me!" Sumia shouted, almost cheerfully. Her own lance sliced across the griffins wing, right where the joint was.

The griffin cried out in pain, and he fell unable to keep himself up. Daniil, still hanging on by a thread, reached out as they both fell. His eyes lost focus halfway down; both griffin and rider landed in a heap. As soon as the bodies hit the ground Daniil's either fled with their tails between their legs or fought back until they, too, were struck down.

The battle had finished within minutes. Murmurs came from the caravans before the merchants each got excited. They prepared their wagons to head into the village, at long last. Exhaling, Chrom placed Falchion back into its sheath. Virion's plan was not awful, there was logic behind it, but it was not exactly the safest for them. However he could not help but notice that Virion kept himself as far away from the frontline as possible… where they really could have used him. "Milord," Frederick spoke up. He guided Hermia beside him as he approached Chrom. At their side was the brave woman who attacked first. "This young lady wished to have a word with you."

"Just wanted to thank you for your help," said the woman. "The name's Anna. Some folks here and there like to call me the Secret Seller."

Chrom's brow furrowed. He was sure he had seen this woman before in the marketplace in Ylisstol. "Have we met before?" he asked dumbly.

Anna's eyes rolled up as she thought for a moment. Shaking her head, she replied, "Nope, can't say we have. I rarely forget a face."

"You're sure? I swear I've seen you selling goods in Ylisstol."

Her face lit up in realization. "Oh! You must have met one of my sisters."

Sisters? But they looked so identical. Even the way they styled their hair was down to pat. "Yes, I know," Anna said as though she were reading his thoughts. "There's a strong family resemblance. I should also mention that we're all traveling merchants."

"With the same name?" asked Chrom.

"Yes, as a matter of fact," said Anna. She added with a wink, "That's part of the secret!"

"Family gatherings must be chaotic."

"True, but aren't everyone's? Still, without your help I can't imagine what would have happened. So I will offer my services and aid you in return."

"Well, you do seem quite capable."

* * *

The village was bursting with life. People went from vendor to vendor with a large smile on their face. The oil lights seemed to brighten up the rapidly darkening streets. "If I didn't know any better," Gaius began. "I woulda thought there was a festival going on."

"Considering how long the villagers must have gone without their essential goods it might as well be," said Chrom.

They walked along side each other as they searched for Tatiana. While one of the villagers gave Chrom directions there was a high possibility she was trying to buy what she needed as well. "One question, Blue," said Gaius. "Any reason why Frederickson isn't the one doing the escorting instead of me?"

Did Gaius just call him Blue? "Frederick said he wanted to check something in the market. And I'd hardly call this 'escorting.'"

Gaius couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. That sounded a bit out of character for Frederick. Even though Gaius was still relatively new to the Shepherds he was well aware of the extremes Frederick was rather infamous for taking in order to do his job. "Maybe he just needed time to clear his head," Gaius thought out loud. He tilted his head in Chrom's direction. "And from where I'm standing, you need to do the same thing."

"What are you talking about?" he asked. "My head has never been clearer."

Stopping in his tracks, Gaius crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "Need I go over the last twenty-four to forty-eight hours, Blue?" he asked. His voice was controlled but there was a clear weight behind it. "Anali and the others might be willing to ignore it, but I find nothing honorable in the mutilation of a dead soldier."

Chrom visibly flinched at Gaius' words. In hindsight was far from his proudest moment. It was a struggle for Chrom to even remember his actions. The general never fought back, he simply accepted his fate. He went down easily, but Chrom decapitated him. And he tried to sever his limbs from his body. It all disappeared into a black haze, the most Chrom remembered was standing over the general then Anali trying to stop him. He did not remember it, but it was clear that Chrom had attacked her. Even if he wasn't in his right mind, he attacked her and it could have been much worse.

"I cannot justify my actions back there," Chrom said after a pregnant pause. "So, I won't."

"I'm not saying that being angry isn't understandable," said Gaius. "What happened in Plegia was pretty fucked up."

"What do you want me to say? I can't make it up to the generals family, if he has one, I don't know him. Do I make it up to Anali? Aren't I doing that now?"

"I think that's something you need to decide."

"Right now I've decided to save Anali."

"Because she's your tactician?"

"Because she's my friend!" Chrom snapped.

Where was Gaius getting off even implying that Chrom only valued Anali for her tactical genius? Did he really not believe he could have wanted Anali to live simply because she was Anali? Because she earned a right to live?

Since they first met Anali had nothing, no memories to revisit at night, no family she could think of. But instead of just hiding in a hole she went on day by day, creating new memories. In that respect, she was stronger than Chrom was, as he doubted he could have just forged ahead like that.

Most would joke about Chrom thinking Anali was some goddess of victory to him, but that was far from the truth. Anali was not without her flaws. She had a shy side to her and she preferred to keep her problems to herself and not bother anyone with her. And she actually did care about outward appearances. She was careful that she did not step over the boundaries of what was appropriate for her position. And Anali tried to give as much as she took, she couldn't just look a gift horse in the mouth and accept it, she had to 'repay' the person.

But Anali was also strong, there were many, perhaps Chrom included, who would have hid in a hole were they in her position. Instead she forged ahead and tried to make new memories. Of course Anali had her moment's when it became too much, but that was only human. And she made human blunders as walking in on Chrom the other day proved.

Human was the right word to describe Anali, not 'goddess.' Anali was strong, and shy, and brave, and vain, but caring, and clever, and funny, even a bit silly. And Chrom, he…

He loved her.

Of course Chrom fell in love with her, he would have been a truly thick man not to.

She had the worlds problems on her back, but she still fought alongside Chrom and his Shepherds and carried them all to safety. Anali was perhaps the only other person in this army who carried a similar torch has he did. Perhaps Chrom had actually done a disservice to Anali when he asked her to join the Shepherds. She had her own problems to sort through, yet he ended up dragging her into a war.

But, Chrom could practically heard Anali's response if he talked to her about it. "You've already done so much, it's the least I could do."

From the beginning, Chrom always thought he had a certain bond with Anali. But without Chrom even realizing it, that bond blossomed into something else. And now he found himself loving Anali as though it were as natural as breathing. Now he found himself desperate to get the flowers before her illness could claim her.

Chrom was sure he was blushing something fierce, going by the sly grin that formed in the corner of Gaius' mouth. "So that's how it is."

"How what is?" Chrom asked on the off chance he could save face.

"So, where's this flower lady again?"

* * *

Liam looked at the display of rings one of the merchants were selling. The were excellently made, and carried a radiant shine to them. One, however, caught Liam's attention. A silver ring with a white gemstone in the center, embedded into the metal on either side of the stone was polished lapis lazuli. "Just like her namesake," murmured Liam.

"Like whose namesake?"

Liam whipped around to find Sumia standing behind him with her hands balled together under her chin. Her eyes seemed to shine in excitement as the pieces formed together in her mind. "You're buying a gift for someone?" she asked, the excitement in her voice was exceedingly hard to miss. "Oh! Are you planning on-?"

"I don't know!" Liam said all too quickly. He rubbed the back of his head, avoiding eye contact with her. "I-I mean I've been thinking… That doesn't mean she'll say yes, or… Why am I even telling you this?"

He tried to walk off, not quite ready to explain his personal life, especially now when Liam really did not know what people would think. In light of recent events would it really be acceptable to take her as his wife? Assuming she was still alive after Ylisstol fell. However, Sumia was not about to let the matter drop. "_Soooo_, what's her name? How did you meet? Are you going to ask her?"

"Why should I tell you?" Liam responded coldly.

"Because we're working on the same team!" Sumia argued crossing her arms. "I'm supposed to trust you with my life if push comes to shove, and right now I don't. And I'm sure most of us wouldn't trust you with there's. We really ought to fix that, and you can start by telling me a little about yourself."

The Bard took a long, deep breath. Liam was no fool, he knew that, and he really did not trust the Shepherds either. He did not trust the Shepherds or Ylisse would accept any possible union between them. And what was messed up, truly messed up, was that all this worrying was not for her and her well being. It was for Liam.

He stayed away from the others because he felt like the fact that he loved a Plegian woman was written all over his face. Because he didn't want them to think him a traitor. It wasn't fair to her. "Her name is Lazuli," Liam explained at length. "She's a maid in the palace."

"Lazuli?" Sumia repeated. "Oh! Like the stone found in Plegia! Of course it is, you were just talking about the stone of her namesake."

"I confess, I have been saving up what I can to propose, but…"

"Buuuuut…?"

"She's a Plegian refugee," Liam explained tilting his head back. "Her family was amongst the Grimleal fanatics who tried to get her to marry one of the higher-ups. One of those class climbers."

"And she didn't want to be forced into marriage?"

"Lazuli was actually pretty okay with it," Liam shrugged. "The issue she had was her would-be betrothed was a few years older than her father."

"Oh…"

Liam went onto explain that he met her when she was organizing the books in the library. Well, that was what she was supposed to be doing, but Liam caught her reading a book of poetry by his favorite poet. That was how they bonded, discussing poets and playwrights. Over time they started talking about other things, they would steal glances while they were in the palace, and Liam would tell Lazuli about the Shepherds missions. And then they started stealing kisses and loving words in the shadows. Sumia ate up it like, from her perspective, it was amongst the cutest things ever. "So why don't you ask her?" Sumia asked, grabbing Liam by the arm without thinking. "I'm sure she'll say yes."

Sighing, Liam asked, "Is that a good idea in light of recent events?"

"I don't see why not. Lazuli did not attack the palace, betray Ylisse, capture the Exalt, or shove her off the cliff. It sounded like she was pretty content with her life in the palace."

His faced twisted as he looked back at the display of rings. It was tempting… so, so tempting. True, he had only known Lazuli for about six to nine months but he was certain that he wanted to marry her. To have children and grow old with her.

* * *

Chrom tapped the back of his knuckles against the door. "Hello?" he called loud enough to be heard from the other side. "Tatiana?"

"That depends," said a voice from the other side, "who's asking?"

"Chrom of Ylisse," he said. "I've been told Tatiana grows yvaine blossoms. My friend is in great need of them, she's been bitten by a-"

The door immediately opened to reveal a little old lady. She carried a walking stick in her hand' she was dressed in old Sage robes. Her grey hair hung around her shoulders, her skin was very wrinkled and her eyes were so small and beady it was a wonder they did not get lost in her wrinkles. "Tatiana?" asked Chrom.

"The very one, Prince Chrom," the lady said, sinking down in to a brief curtsy. "You'll have to forgive me, my hearing hasn't been quite what it used to, but you were saying you need the yvaine blossom?"

"Yup," nodded Gaius. "A friend of ours was bitten by a Plegian something-or-other."

"And Olga, in castle Ferox informed us that you grow them," finished Chrom.

The old woman nodded. "That I do. Surprisingly enough they just thrive in this kind of weather. It's a bit ironic given the heat yellow-backs just love." Stepping to the side, Tatiana gestured into home. "Would you like to see them."

"Thank you," Chrom said giving Tatiana a brief bow of the head.

When Chrom walked in he stopped in his tracks upon feeling something slap against his rump. He froze, a rosy blush once more forming upon his face while Gaius bit back a laugh from behind him. Tatiana strolled pass Chrom looking quite pleased with herself. How old was she again?

Tatiana's outdoor garden was cluttered with bushes bearing beautiful flowers. The larges blooms were almost as large as Chrom's fist, some of them were probably even bigger than that. The petals were a light blue that faded into white then finally a pale yellow like a star in the night sky. "Now, you have two options," Tatiana spoke up. "You can either take the blossoms now and have them when you leave, or you can wait to get them tomorrow morning before you leave."

"We'll take them now," Chrom said immediately. "My friend needs them-"

"I think we can wait until morning," Gaius cut him off.

Chrom glared at Gaius. "Anali needs these-"

"I think she can hang on until tomorrow," said Gaius. "We're loosing daylight, fast. Leaving now will do no one any good."

He was right, Chrom didn't like it, but Gaius was right. They made good time today, they could probably make good time tomorrow. As much as Chrom hated it, he was going to have to trust that Anali was strong enough to hold on for as long as she could.

And she was. Anali was strong. She may have had her concerns about her situation, but Anali never sat around and moped about it, or even brought it up to strangers for sympathy; she went on with life. She made friends and fought alongside them. She recognized her own shortcomings in swordplay when they first met and took it upon herself to remedy that. She took charge of the Shepherds when she needed to without hesitation. Anali was going to hold on for as long as she could.

"He's right," Chrom finally agreed with a sigh. "We'll pick them up tomorrow before we return. Is there any way we can pay you for this?"

"No payment," Tatiana insisted. "I grow yvaine for occasions such as this."

Heading back to the front door Chrom realized he might have trouble sleeping tonight. He had no way of knowing what Anali's current state was, or whether or not the castle was attacked. Not knowing was going to drive him crazy. And then another thought entered his head. What was he going to say to Anali when he saw her again?

"HELLO!" Gaius shouted after a thump was heard.

Tatiana quickly passed Chrom, extremely pleased with herself once more.

* * *

Anali was completely unaware of the two Clerics scurrying around her as she sobbed, loudly. She had rolled onto her side, her hands on either side of her head, her face was wet with tears and sweat. "She won't wake up…" Anali blubbered. "She won't wake up…"

She finished her blubbering with a hysteric scream. "It's the fever talking," said Olga. "We have to get it lowered, quick."

Elaine, volunteering to help, nodded in response. She carried a fresh nightdress and bed sheets in her arms. Olga hurried to a cupboard at the end of the room she pulled out a bottle with a tall neck and an empty glass. The older Cleric rushed to the counter and poured the contents of the bottle into the glass. She studied the glass briefly, measuring it out before she walked across the room. "Elaine, help her to sit up," ordered Olga.

Quickly, Elaine placed the clean fabrics down and hurried to Anali's side. She was still crying with a few screams escaping every so often. Elaine sat her up with one arm wrapped around Anali's shoulders. The young Cleric was stunned to find how hot to the touch Anali was, even with her body drenched in sweat. Elaine whispered soothing words to Anali as Olga placed the glass to her lips. She tilted it forward so the contents slid down Anali's throat.

In Anali's mind she was outside in the back allies of a village. She was utterly broken as she cradled the body of a dead woman in her arms. Chrom, Frederick, and Lissa stood in front of her. Chrom had knelt down in front of them, gently coaxing Anali to let the woman go, that they could help her. Fresh tears formed in Anali's eyes as she sobbed into Chrom's chest in spite of Frederick's protest.

In reality Anali had calmed down a bit within the minutes that passed. Elaine still did what she could to sooth her as she and Olga stripped Anali of her sheets, blankets, and nightdress to clean her sweat drenched body as best as they could. She hardly reacted to the sponge bath; she hardly cared when she was dressed into a clean nightgown or the fact that she was carefully moved so the bed sheets could be replaced. Anali sat with Elaine who rocked her from left to right as Anali drifted off to sleep.

_"Lissa!" I shout, hurrying up to her side._

_I am in Ylisstol palace, surrounded by Risen. It seems like the attacks are getting more and more frequent as of late. It worries me so much. The Risen have never made it into the palace, until now. It is a surefire sign that things are getting worse. Much, much worse._

_"I'm fine," says Lissa. She almost looks like Emmeryn with her hair down and the long robes she long since traded in exchange for her crinoline. "Never mind me, we have to keep the castle safe."_

_I nod in agreement. While she says 'keep the castle safe,' I know Lissa really means 'keep them safe.' The castle could always be rebuilt if this ever ends, but you can't rebuild a life. But they are safe right now. I have to constantly remind myself of that. They're save, they won't see any of these monsters so long as they stay in the safe house._

_My blade collides with the Risen's axe several times. I turn inwards towards my back and dig the sword into its side. I pull my sword out, and the Risen falls to the floor. I nearly jump out of my skin when Lissa lets out a blood-curtailing scream. A little boy has wandered onto the battle field and a Risen Archer, with several arrows knocked onto his bow, had taken aim. My heart sinks into my chest. No…_

_A man hurls himself in front of the arrows as they're released, he holds the boy close to him. The arrows strike into his back, one after another. The little boy holds onto the man's shirt, his eyes widened, tears spill out of his eyes. I hear the man mutter something to the boy, then they both fall to the side. Lissa hurries to them as Chrom strikes down the Archer._

_I take the little boy into my arms as Lissa holds the fallen man into her own. She sobs into his neck. I cannot to anything for the boy as he reaches out for the man, asking him why he won't get up, to stop playing around._

_Why…?_

* * *

That morning Tatiana already had the yvaine blossoms picked and secured in two baskets. She explained that she had picked as many as they would need, and that Olga would know what to do with them. They returned to castle Ferox by mid-day. Basilio greeted them, then explained that Anali's fever spiked the previous night to the point of delirium.

Chrom and Lissa immediately hurried to find Olga to deliver the flowers and to get the full story. Chrom was the first one to ask what happened, he swore his blood ran cold and his heart would have stopped if Olga had not spoken so reassuringly.

"Relax, Prince Chrom," sighed Olga. She was busy grinding the blossoms, they were divied into two. Half to be ground, half to be crushed. "We were able to get it to lower. Remember what I told you? With out the blossoms the most I could do was make her comfortable. The medicine I have can help with the infection, but it's not strong enough to completely fight it. Now, since I only had to give it to her once without the fever rising so high again I am optimistic."

"Just…" his voice trailed off. "Just do what you need to."

"Why don't you stick around, Prince Chrom if you're that concerned?"

Chrom wanted to. He really wanted to. He wanted to be there when Anali woke up, he wanted to hear from her that she was feeling better. But he was afraid of what he might do when she did, and what would happen after. Despite what Chrom felt he was not willing to risk their friendship. Especially now when Anali must have been mentally exhausted.

"I'll have to decline," said Chrom. "My men and I ought to rest up."

Rolling her eyes, Lissa blew a raspberry. "If you say so," she said in a sing-song tone. "Do you need any more help, ma'am?"

* * *

_I am on the floor, dazed and aching. I see Chrom hurry to my side, he drops to one knee and helps me to sit up. "You all right?" he asks as he prompts me up. I manage a nod, unable to find my voice. I look up to see the enemy we were previously fighting. His body disintegrates into a black haze. "That's the end of him… thanks to you, we carry the day."_

_Chrom grips my shoulders as he helps me to my feet. There is a splitting pain at the very center of my head. It hurts to think, it's like something is eating away at my mind; my vision goes red. "We can rest easy now," Chrom's voice sounds so far away it is hard to believe that he's actually right here in front of me. "At long last."_

_My mind goes blank followed by another shot of pain._

_And then another._

_And another._

_"What's wrong?" I barely make out Chrom's voice. I can't even bring myself to answer. I feel like I'm loosing myself. "Hang on! Hang on-!"_

_Blank._

_I blink, I do not understand what's happened. Chrom's hands have left me, he steps away from me unsteadily. His hand holds a large volt of electricity that had penetrated into him. Blood seeps through his clothes._

_My heart stops._

_I look down at my dominate hand to find small sparks of electricity across my fingers. I feel the tears beginning to swell. "No…" I choke out, shaking my head. "No… No… No!"_

_Chrom takes an uneasy step towards me. His hand caresses my cheek and wipes the tears away. Oh, gods please don't… "This is not your-your fault…" he chokes out. "Promise me… you'll escape from this place… Please… go…"_

_He drops to his knees and collapses onto the floor. Blood pools onto the floor around him. My hands clasp over my mouth the sobs that finally escapes._

_I hear the cackling of laughter echo around the chamber. I feel my lips twitch and my shoulders shake. Lowering my hands the chuckle escapes. It builds up until I am howling with laughter._

_What was the point?_

_There was none._

_I can't breathe… I can't breathe…_

_I feel like I'm sinking. Sinking into the deepest abyss of the ocean. I just want to disappear, to just sleep and ignore the world outside._

… _resist? Why… you…_

_I feel like crying. Screaming. Like I'm drowning. Just put an end to me…_

_Why do you resist?_

_I hear something… something pleasant… and… familiar?_

_I suddenly find myself resting my head on the knee of a featureless woman. She sings softly as she runs her fingers through my hair, which is notably shorter than it is now. I fight to stay awake because I love this song in particular. And I love it when the woman sings it to me. So tired…_

Anali's eyes fluttered open to find Olivia seated beside her softly singing, what sounds like, a lullaby. The lyrics make it obvious that it is meant to be sung by a parent to their child. It was a sweet tune, but it strangely made Anali feel like crying.

Olivia finally noticed that Anali was awake and her face flushed. "Oh!" she gasped, forcing herself to look away. "I-I'm sorry… you looked like you were having a nightmare, so I thought…"

Olivia was not about to add that she had caught Tharja trying to steal a lock of Anali's hair while she slept, it was probably better that way. She would rather not know if it was her. "I think I heard that song from somewhere," said Anali. Her voice was hoarse and it hurt a little to speak. "But I can't remember where."

"It's one of my favorites," Olivia explained. "I was taught it as a child."

"If… If I survive this… Can you teach me? Or at least write down the lyrics for me?"

"Of course. But why 'if?' I heard from Elaine that Olga's pretty confident that you'll recover. She gave you some of the antidote and rubbed salve into the bite wound while you were asleep. From what I heard putting on the salve was a bit painful, so it was probably a good thing you were sleeping."

Anali forced a smile understanding that Olivia was trying to lighten the mood. But really, Anali wanted to cry. At that moment there was only one person she wanted to see more than anything. But she knew visiting her was not amongst his priorities right now. After all, he had an army to lead.

* * *

**Authors Note: **Editing this chapter I kinda realized Anali's first nightmare was suspiciously like that one scene in the trailer for the new Fire Emblem game… I had this chapter planed months before if was even announced, so I guess it was a happy accident?

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Chapter Fourteen  
These Days of Levity**

Olga had done her job for years, since she was younger than Princess Lissa or Elaine. She had seen a lot, and learned to swallow her concerns and fears. She treated a lot of yellow-back cases in her time, but never any quite as fast as Ylisse's tactician. Less than twelve hours after she was first given the antidote not only had her fever broken, but her chills were non-existent. Oh yes, Anali was still cold but it was solvable with a cloak on and actually worked. What's more the patient was starting to feel like herself again.

So when Olga found that Anali could hold her food down she gave her the okay to get out of bed. However Anali was given the strict order to keep weight off her injured leg. It was still swollen and bruised, proof that the infection was not completely gone. The leg should heal in a couple of weeks, provided Anali took her medicine. It wasn't that unusual for yellow-back victims; the area of the bite usually had the worst of it, so it took a little longer to heal. And since Anali was bitten on the ankle she really needed to keep any weight off of it.

Anali found out why pretty quickly when she gave it a test run. It felt like hot knives were piercing through her foot and calf. After a scolding from Olga, the Cleric gave Anali a crutch to help her get around. However getting around on one leg and a crutch was surprisingly tiring.

When she finally made it to the room she shared with Cordelia, Miriel and Nowi, she only found Cordelia. The red-haired Pegasus Knight smiled when she saw Anali walk into the room, then faltered. Immediately, Anali held up one hand in defense. "Don't shoot, I'm on parole," she said. "Olga found that I could keep down food so she let me go. But…" Anali gestured to the crutch. "Yeah. On the plus side, this isn't that unusual for people in my case."

Cordelia's brow furrowed, the last time Anali was this blasé about her well-being she ended up collapsing the day after. _Maybe_ things would have turned out the same if she insisted Anali get her leg looked at, or _maybe_ her health would not have gotten as bad as it did. But she did get the okay from a Cleric.

"You look like a mess," Cordelia said through a sigh. "Do you need any help?"

"Yes, please."

The help Anali really needed was for her hair. The tossing and turning from her fever dreams had made it into a regular birds nest. Her hair had grown out a bit since she first woke up, and brushing the knots out back then was hell. She was certain that Cordelia was getting frustrated to the point where she wanted to cut a few inches off. "Not to worry!" Cordelia said with compete and utter conviction. "My hair is longer than yours, and if I can brush that on a daily basis, then I can brush this!"

Somewhere along the way, Nowi dropped by and thought Anali's crutch was the coolest thing ever. She tried to walk with it but was disappointed to find that she wasn't tall enough for it. "Oh, cheer up Nowi," Cordelia said as she looked over her shoulder. "Not everyone can still ride on others shoulders like you can."

"I guess that's true," sighed Nowi.

Anali winced as the brush pulled through one of the knots. Maybe she should have been strapped down onto the bed. Would that have helped? Probably not. Cordelia finished brushing and left behind a wad that was unsalvageable. But with her hair finally in order Anali pulled it back into her usual pigtails. Looking into the mirror Anali unconsciously touched the healing cut on the left side of her face.

With all the chaos within the past few days Anali plum forgot about the injury she received… from a rage-filled Chrom. She would never hold it against him, Chrom would never have done that in his right mind. It was essentially an accident. The cut would probably leave a mark, something Anali would eventually get used to seeing, but while it was still fresh and healing it seemed so noticeable.

Changing into a fresh set of clothes Anali opted for something comfortable and more reserved. She was simultaneously feeling like herself again, and wasn't. Her clothes reflected that, they were reminiscent to what she wore when Chrom and Lissa first found her, with obvious alterations. For starters, the cloak was shorter; it lacked the three purple eyes on the sleeves, nor was it as complex as the original. Her shirt had a high collar as she was feeling chilly in the Feroxi weather. The backs of her hands were covered, as always, and she wore the kilt from the outfit she was found in. She had to use a new pair of boots, however, a pair that had lower tops as to not irritate her injury.

It was strange. Anali chose to wear something other than the outfit she was first found in because of its Plegian (and possibly Grimleal) roots; yet she always wore something that was reminiscent of it. Always something black and purple. Something with sleeves. It was like Anali could try to hide it, but it was not something she could truly be rid of.

Come time for lunch Anali hobbled her way to the mess hall, stopping every so often to catch her breath. Was it the crutch she was using, or the fact that her body was still recovering? "Are you sure you wouldn't rather eat in our room, Anali?" asked a concerned Cordelia. "I'd be happy to bring you-"

"It's fine," Anali flashed her a smile. "I've been bed-ridden for, what, three days, I need to get back into the swing of things. I've got to pick up the slack, go over war strategies with Chrom and Frederick, check the weapon supply-"

"Oh, I've already done that," Cordelia cut in. She tried to keep her voice under control, but the way Anali spoke so casually about Prince Chrom just shocked her. Cordelia must have seen it several times before, but this was the first time she ever noticed. "I've even restocked everyone's personal medical supplies while taking note of their equipment."

Anali could feel sweat beginning to form on her brow. _Everyone's? _There was like twenty-something people within the Shepherds, how could Cordelia keep track of everyone's? "You have it all written down, right?" Anali asked weakly.

"Nope. I've always had an exceptional memory," Cordelia confessed with an embarrassed smile.

Anali nearly tripped when she heard this. Phila did say that Cordelia was rather gifted. "Anali!" they heard from behind them. Anali peered over her shoulder to find Tharja, looking about as happy as the perpetual frowner could. "You're out of the hospital wing?! You can't imagine how happy that makes me."

"Oh, well…" Anali's voice trailed off as she put on a forced smile. "That's very…"

Tharja immediately linked an arm around Anali's free one. "You were headed for the mess hall, weren't you?" asked Tharja. "What a coincidence, so was I. Looks like you can't walk right now, let me help you get your lunch."

The Dark Mage forced Anali down the hall with the former chanting, "Easy my leg, easy my leg, easy my leg!"

In the mess hall Tharja forcibly sat Anali down at a table across from Ricken, before she hurried off to get them both lunch. Ricken had hardly paid Anali any attention. His plate was untouched and pushed to the side. Right in front of him was a piece of parchment, it was obvious that he was writing a letter. Or at least he would be if it wasn't blank.

"I see a blank page and a quill in your hand," said Anali. "I also see a cold plate of meat pie, and no hand moving. Did something happen?"

Ricken's eyes glanced up to see who had spoken to him, then smiled upon seeing the tactician well again. "No." He shook his head. "My parents live more towards Elrond, they would have been spared from the attack on Ylisstol. I'm just writing to let them know how _I_ am."

"Shouldn't that be easy then? You're fine, you've survived."

"I know just… I don't want them to worry."

Anali nodded slightly. Okay fair enough, as far as Anali knew Ricken was an only child. And Ricken was gifted enough to have the minimal age limit to join the Shepherds over looked. His parents must have been proud and afraid, especially now. "Why not tell them the truth, then?"

"I don't know."

"Well, if nothing else, you can at least tell them you're okay and nothing else."

A plate was dropped in front of Anali as Tharja sat herself beside her. For whatever reason, Tharja thought Anali would like gizzards with her meat pie.

* * *

Anali discovered her love of gizzards that day. They were just so flavorful and left a wonderful meaty aftertaste. Gods, Anali could never be a vegetarian. She hobbled her way through castle Ferox with a messenger bag slung over her shoulder. While eating Anali had gotten a message from Raimi to meet the Khan's and Chrom for a war meeting, something that made Anali happy to hear.

Just a head of her, Anali spotted Sumia walking down the hall. She must have done a little training, going by the act that she wore her armor. Her armor carried a brilliant shine to it today, and Anali could not help but notice that Sumia looked extremely happy. As they crossed paths Sumia flashed Anali a wave, then she took off into a half-jog down the hallway and tripped a few yards away. Sumia god up and continued as though nothing happened. Anali had to wonder what got her in a good mood, but good for her.

In the library, where she was told to meet them, Anali found Basilio and Flavia waiting for. The West Khan beamed as he pulled out a seat for her. "So, look who finally decided to join the living," said Basilio.

"Yeah, _living_," sighed Anali. "Say that again once the wounds healed."

"A few weeks lame is better than the alternative, eh?" Basilio chortled as he clapped Anali on the back as she sat down.

"_Ow…_" she whimpered. She tried to brush it off as she dug through her bag for her map. "Now, where's Chrom? We've wasted enough time as it is."

Both Khan's exchanged looks, which confused Anali. "He had business elsewhere," said Flavia. "Something about Frederick and Virion and an archery accident. He just told us to go over information and plans with you, and I'll inform him later."

Anali's blood ran cold for a moment. She ran over Flavia's words in her head. An archery accident? With Virion and Frederick? That was a full on lie pulled directly from his arse. Virion was not that careless with his craft, and Frederick was not that careless _period_. And why would Virion work on his archery in the snow? If, on the off chance, he missed the target there goes a perfectly good arrow. And then there was the last sentence. That Flavia would inform Chrom on what he missed. _Flavia. _Not Anali, _his tactician_.

_He's avoiding me,_ Anali realized.

There wasn't any tiptoeing around it. He was avoiding her. Because she couldn't save Emmeryn? Then why would Chrom go out to get the blossoms that would save her life? _Because you're his tactician,_ said a snide little voice in her head. _You've seen Virion's strategies, and Chrom's not about to risk the lives of his Shepherds. _You're_ his best shot at victory._

The thought made Anali want to scream.

He was being stupid, and irresponsible, Chrom knew that but still wasn't sure about what he was going to do. These feelings he carried could either turn into something wonderful or utterly destroy their friendship. And Chrom just wasn't sure if he was willing to take the risk. He could accept that Anali did not return his feelings, but what he couldn't bear was their friendship falling apart.

So Chrom found himself hiding in his room with his tail between his legs and chastising himself. He shouldn't have been focusing on this, he _should_ have been focusing on ending this blasted war already. He _should_ have been in that war meeting with Anali and the Khan's. He _should_ have been stepping up to the plate, Chrom was pretty much the Exalt now. And the Exalt was practically brought down to his knees for fear of one woman.

There was a knock on his door, and Frederick walked in. His armor had been put away, and he carried himself rather rigidly. In fact, Frederick looked oddly _afraid_, that simply did not happen much, Chrom should savor the moment. "Milord," Frederick said curtly. Was Frederick actually _sweating_?

"Frederick," Chrom replied with a nod. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, Milord, not really. I… Not too long ago you encouraged me to do more for myself, treat myself to something."

"Yes. Yes I did."

The day before they had gotten news that Ylisstol had fallen, when the Shepherds split into two in order to draw less attention to themselves, Frederick had gone a little overboard again. It was not completely like his infamous posters, but still mortifying given that Frederick barged in on Chrom while he was bathing because there was a tear in the tent. Chrom tried to get Frederick to see things from his perspective, and even though he did the knight was still so insistent. In the end Chrom suggested that Frederick do more for himself; relax and do something for himself.

"Is that still an option for me?" asked Frederick.

"Frederick, because it's you it will never not be," Chrom said as he pushed his bangs back. "But yes, yes it is."

Frederick's face eased a little, though he still looked fidgety. "Thank you, Milord," he said. "I will excuse myself."

Chrom still was not quite sure what happened when Frederick left.

The down side to staying in a foreign castle was that there were so many rooms to search for. On the plus side there were rumors that they might be heading back to Ylisstol tomorrow. Sumia searched the castle with a spring in her step. When she went to fetch her armor to go out flying with Rosella she found that not only had Rosella's barding been cleaned, but Sumia's personal weapons and armor were polished.

She knew who did it, and she combed the castle hoping to thank him.

Sumia found the very man she was looking for in the armory, or at least the room they were using while they were staying in castle Ferox. He was polishing someone's pauldron, seemingly unaware of Sumia's arrival. "Frederick!" she almost exclaimed upon seeing him. "I've been looking for you everywhere! You're the one who polished my armor to such a lovely sheen, right?"

Frederick's brow rose as he looked up at her. Placing the pauldron down, he stood up. He felt the weight of the small object in his pocket. "I… wasn't sure you noticed," confessed Frederick.

"Of course I noticed! My plate has never looked so good. I actually felt pretty while on my ride today!"

A small smile played upon Fredericks lips. "You are always beautiful to me, Sumia," he said. "In truth, I've no eyes for anyone else."

Giggling, Sumia asked, "Not even Chrom?"

"'Tis no laughing matter, milady," Frederick said, taking Sumia's hands into his own. "I serve Chrom because I have sworn to do so. He is my lord and master. But when in your presence, I cannot tear my eyes from you. I am utterly captivated!"

Sumia could feel her heart flutter and her cheeks flush. She dreamed of something like this happening to her one day, but it seemed like such a childish fantasy. But Sumia _never_ dreamed it would come from such a good and passionate man like Frederick. It was that passion that Sumia always admired about him. Now she realized that that admiration blossomed into something beautiful.

"True," Frederick said tearing his eyes from her. "At first it was because I feared you might blunder into a nearby tree… But soon I found myself gazing at you whenever the opportunity permitted."

Sumia couldn't help but smile at this. That was another thing, Frederick was honest, genuine, sincere. She was surprised when Frederick released her hands. He fished something out of his pocket, then sunk down to one knee. Oh, gods!

"Please, milady," said Frederick. Keeping his head bowed he revealed a shining silver ring with an intricate design etched onto the surface. The purple stones were styled into a flower with a white stone in the center. It was beautiful. "Would you do me the honor of accepting this gift?"

Her breath caught in her throat. She was happy, really happy, but also really afraid. Sumia did not want to build herself up for disappointment. "Frederick," she said after finding her voice. "Does it mean what I think it means?"

"My heart is yours, milady," Frederick said looking up at her. "Now and forever, if you would only but claim it."

"But why?" Sumia asked with wide eyes. Her heart was fluttering, and she could hardly think straight. "I'm nothing that special. Heck, I can hardly run three feet without tripping over myself."

"Then let me be the one to help you back up," replied Frederick. "If you will stay by my side."

"I just… I can't imagine," Sumia said. She looked down at the ring again, it was still in Fredericks hand. "Gods, Frederick, this is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me…"

"You deserve it and more," said Frederick. "Were that I could, I would present you with the moon herself."

That line alone was enough for her. Frederick was someone who made her happy, who made her feel special, someone she could easily see herself with for the rest of her life. And it would appear that she did the same for him. "I don't want the moon, Frederick!" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I just want you! So yes!"

Smiling, Fredrick stood up and slid the ring onto her finger. She had to lift herself up slightly as their lips met. If this was a dream then she did not want to wake up. His arms were wrapped around her, protecting her from the world outside, this was their little world now. When their lips parted Sumia rested her head on Frederick's chest just under the crook of his neck. "Let's get married," she whispered.

She could hear the chuckle rumble in his chest. "But I've just asked-"

"I mean today. _Now._" She looked up at him. "Everyone I want to be there is already here. So let's do it while we have the chance."

Frederick thought about it for a moment. Sumia did have a point, everyone he would have wanted to witness their wedding was already here. And there was no telling what the future held, one of them could die the next time they were in battle. "Do you know where Libra is?" he asked.

Libra was with Lissa, in his room, after Libra had healed the Princess' hand. She accidentally burned herself while trying to practice magic. The spell was thankfully weak, so it was nothing that a little vulnerary could not help. "So, I only really noticed just now," Lissa spoke up. "But you're _really_ pretty! Your skin is perfect! Your hair is perfect! It's just not fair!"

"Not fair?" Libra repeated slowly. Having attracted both the fairer and bolder sex (Virion included) it could be a bit of a hindrance sometimes. Depends on the day really.

"_And_ you're tall and sweet and you even _smell_ nice!" continued Lissa. "You're a one-man show everything I wish I had."

Libra gave her a kind smile. "You have a host of traits I lack as well, Lissa."

"Name one!"

"You're extremely expressive. You treat every person you meet fairly and equally. Your cheery disposition spreads to all those around you. You are even true to yourself," Libra listed off. "I would gladly trade any element of my appearance for that beauty in your heart."

The blonde princess flushed at this. "Is something the matter, Milady?"

"I expected a little buttering up," said Lissa. "Not the whole crock!"

"My apologies. I just find it so easy to talk with you. Another of your finer traits, now that I think about it."

The door flew open, and Frederick and Sumia hurried in as they said Libra's name. "Afternoon," Libra greeted kindly. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"We… we were…" Sumia's voice trailed off as she struggled to keep her joy in. She grasped Frederick by the arm.

"We were wondering if you could marry us," said Frederick.

"Beg pardon?" Libra asked over Lissa's _'WHAT?!'_

"We wish to married," said Sumia. "In a couple of hours at most."

Lissa's jaw hung open. _Frederick_ wanted to get married in a few hours? Frederick?! Who was this man and what had he done with Frederick?! "That's wonderful." Libra smiled. "I would be more than happy to. Please, take as much time as you need to prepare yourselves."

"Oh my gosh, this is really happening!" Sumia said giddily. "I'm going to go tell everyone!"

"Leave a few for me!" exclaimed Lissa.

The girls quickly ran out of the room and down the halls.

Anali hobbled back into her room and collapsed onto her bed. Basilio's men revealed that Gangrel and his army were touring Plegian within a fortnight, it was the perfect opportunity for an attack. Anali wanted the attack somewhere far away from civilians, and there just so happened to be a spot on the route for such a thing. Gangrel was expecting an attack, that was why he was traveling with his soldiers. It might work as an advantage for them.

She was about ready to doze off when the door flung open. Sumia hurried in carrying a dress in her arms, followed by Cordelia, Maribelle, Nowi, Olivia, and Lissa. All of them were chatting excitedly. Cordelia hung up the dress by the window, as Maribelle sat Sumia in front of the vanity. The blonde looked over her shoulder to ask for Cordelia's opinion on what to do with Sumia's hair. Nowi had an armful of flowers in her hands, which left Anali vaguely wondering where she found them in the snow filled Ferox. The Manakete sat herself on one of the beds and began to work feverously on the flowers.

"What's going on?" asked Anali

Sumia looked over her shoulder with a large smile on her face. "I'm getting married!"

"What?!" Anali almost stood up without her crutch.

"Frederick proposed to me, I said yes, and we're getting married!"

"Wait, _Frederick_?! As in _our_ Frederick?!"

"I know, right?!" added Lissa.

"Yes, yes," Maribelle said. "It's both very exciting, and quite surprising. Now, we need to focus on polishing this gem. A lady's wedding day is special after all. Cordelia, I suggest we try something similar to Sumia's usual style. We don't want to change her, but enhance her."

Sumia sat smiling boldly as Cordelia and Maribelle worked on her hair. She was really getting married. She was probably going to get an earful from her mother when they met again. Odds were Duchess Rebeck would not approve of her only child basically eloping. Or at least marrying a man who was _not _Prince Chrom. Her mother always pressured her to win the princes' heart. Oh, sure Sumia did have feelings for the Prince at one point but something changed a few months ago, and sometimes emotions were just out of your hands. Wasn't the love she had for Frederick proof of that? This felt… mature. Equal.

When Cordelia and Maribelle finished with her hair, Anali helped her into her dress. It was pale pink with a sheer outter skirt that was rose colored. Her arms were bear with short rosey sleeves made out of lace. Anali's red eyes widened when she realized the dress looked familiar. "Isn't this the dress you bought to get me to buy mine when we went shopping that day?" she asked.

"Told you it'd be nice to know I had one on me," Sumia said with a prideful smile.

Olivia helped Sumia with her makeup. She followed Maribelle's advice to enhance the bride's appearance rather than change it. A layer of Sumia's hair was wrapped in a halo braid, leaving the second layer hanging in curls. Her lips were painted pink and eye lids covered with light purple. "Here!" Nowi hopped out of the bed. She held out a flower crown to Sumia. "Try this on!"

"Oh, thank you, Nowi," Sumia smiled as she accepted the crown.

Cordelia placed it on the bride's head, careful not to mess her hair up. With the flower crown Sumia could have passed for a spring bride had they not been and Ferox, or if it hadn't been June. "You look so beautiful, Sumia," Cordelia said with one hand balled up in front of her mouth. "I think I'm going to cry…"

"Oh don't," Sumia said through a shaking voice. "You're going to get me going…"

"Save the tears for the vows!" said Lissa.

A knock came from the door and Sully poked her head in. "Hey," she said. "I think the guys are ready to get started. And I've got a gift for the bride."

She stepped into the room revealing a bouquet of white and lavender flowers in her hand. "It's the best I could do on short notice."

"Thank you!" Sumia took the bouquet into her hands. "I think I'm ready."

Frederick and Sumia. Frederick and Sumia? Frederick… and Sumia? Nope. No matter how many times the thought ran through Chrom's head he still could not get used to it. Frederick and Sumia not only had feelings for each other, but were about to get married. That's not to say that Chrom wasn't happy for them, if they found love in each other Chrom was thrilled, he was just trying to figure out how it happened.

That explained Fredericks actions earlier; he was asking for Chrom's blessing to marry.

The Shepherds had gathered in the mess hall for the wedding, a suggestion made by Flavia. Half the tables were pushed aside, and Libra had made a makeshift alter at the end of the room. Frederick stood beside Libra, sweating something fierce. It was almost funny given how even the hardest workout never got the man to break a sweat.

Lissa, Nowi, Cordelia, and Maribelle hurried into the hall and had taken a seat. Olivia and Anali brought out the rear, it would appear that the pink haired girl lingered behind to help Anali. Chrom heard that she needed a crutch to get around for the time being, that her leg would be very, very sore for a while. Chrom wanted to go up to her and help her himself to sit beside her as they watched their friends. But he didn't trust himself.

Everyone stood silent as Sumia walked down the aisle. She looked radiant, happy, in love. Chrom stole a quick glance at Frederick, who looked downright giddy at the sight of his bride. As far as Frederick was concerned there was only one woman in the world; that woman _was_ his world. She met with Frederick at the end of the aisle; they joined hands, then turned to face Libra. "Dear friends," Libra spoke up, hushing the others. "We gather today to bare witness to the union between Sir Frederick Whitmore and Sumia Rebeck in marriage. It is often said that the greatest thing we will ever learn is simply to love and be loved in return. And to prove that they have learnt this Frederick and Sumia stand before us for Naga's blessing upon their union."

Chrom stole a quick glance at Anali. Her eyes were locked upon Frederick and Sumia, she was beaming, almost crying even. She looked so happy right then and there, happy for her friends.

Libra continued, he asked Frederick first, then Sumia to repeat after him as the two made their vows. "I, Frederick/Sumia, take you Sumia/Frederick, to be my wife/husband. My constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of Naga I offer you my vow to be your partner in times of good and bad, joy and sorrow, sickness and health. I will love you unconditionally, support you in the road of life to honor and respect you, to laugh and cry with you, and cherish you as long as we both shall live."

Frederick fumbled slightly during his vows, Sumia just smiled in understanding. She wasn't taking his slips as a sign their marriage would fail, just that things happened when a person was nervous and happy. "Then, in Naga's name," Libra spoke. "Kiss the bride."

They kissed. Sumia's arms hooked around her husbands neck, while Frederick actually lifted Sumia off her feet.

As Basilio had told them when the alliance between Ylisse and Regna Ferox was first made, Flavia used the occasion as an excuse to break out the mead. The eating and drinking went on into the night. Even when the bride and groom 'mysteriously' disappeared, presumably to consummate their marriage.

* * *

The next day, despite the late night drinking, and despite the fact that Frederick had every reason to take the day off, the Shepherds were still heading back to Ylisstol. Sumia, however opted to ride with her husband, and somehow Anali was roped into riding Rosella with Gaius. And Gaius was still insistent that Anali was blackmailing him about keeping his criminal mark a secret.

The night before he tried to bribe her with a special lotion he bought from the new girl, Anna. When Anali denied it Gaius threw in the sweets he bought in Thranduil. Anali threw her drink in his face.

When they returned to Ylisstol, at long last, a pile of flowers were placed outside the gate of castle Ylisse. Of course they heard about Emmeryn's death. Of course they did. Word must have gotten to the counsel that the Shepherds were finally returning as several councilmen were waiting for them. Anali was able to recognize a short woman with ash grey hair as Sumia's mother, though they had never met. And even Ricken's father because he had the same hair color and his eye shape. There was a third person Anali could not recognize at all due to him being an ageing man. She later learned that he was Maribelle's father.

When Duchess Rebeck saw the ring on Sumia's finger, the Pegasus Knight lead her mother away so they could talk. The council quickly stole Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick leaving the others to take care of everything. If there was a plus Gaius offered to take care of Rosella without bringing up the 'blackmail.' When Anali was finally in the comfort of her room she played a few songs on her ocarina. Elaine simply smiled bittersweetly at the music. It must have been difficult for her to be home again; her best friend was dead, the Exalt was dead, and Gangrel _wasn't_ dead.

By the end of the day Sumia had packed up her belongings and moved in with Frederick. It did not surprise Anali. However Cordelia took her place, and Olivia took the last slot. Olivia asked to hear Anali play so she played a few more songs, it was obvious that Olivia struggled to keep herself under control and not dance along with her.

The next day, however, Anali tried to find Chrom to discuss strategy with him, or at least set a time to meet up. But either Anali just missed him or he was never there. Were her fears correct and he real did blame Anali for Emmeryn's death? Was he really just keeping her around for her tactics?

No. No! Chrom was not that vindictive! Chrom was not that cruel!

He was just busy is all! Chrom was pretty much the Exalt now. They were in the middle of a war. He had to plan a funeral for Emmeryn. He had to plan his own coronation. Anali was not so special that she could take time out of his schedule.

Anali was his tactician. It was her job to come up with a strategy to end this war. And maybe even repair the damage done by it. Chrom had to see her so they could discuss a plan while they still had this window of opportunity. It went against all logic to avoid her like this.

But Chrom was avoiding her. He wasn't even being subtle about it. Had Anali done something wrong. She felt stupid when the tears fell from her eyes. These thoughts were making her chest tight.

What Anali did not realize was that Tharja had been watching her, and had taken it upon herself to curse whoever was making Anali sad. The Dark Mage set up her station in the mess hall, the only place she had room to do it in. Once Tharja found out who was upsetting Anali they could look forward to weeks of boils!

She looked through her book to double check her ingredients. Damn it! Tharja was missing more than half! She looked up to find that Donnel boy placing a potted tomato plant in the windowsill. "You there, boy!" Tharja said without looking at him. "Do you know where I can find a newt's eye?"

"Yes ma'am!" he said happily. "I've seen tons of them slimy critters up in yonder stream."

"Excellent, and the tail of a snow-white sow?"

"Well, I'm sure the butcher would have some," Donnel said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Just sit tight, ma'am, I'll fetch 'em both for ye!"

He left Tharja feeling a little dumbfounded, which was a rarity for her. He was just going to go get her a newt's eye and sow tail? Just like that? That was oddly easy. And she never even placed a curse of servitude on him.

Four days after the Shepherds return to Ylisstol, the rumor mill had started running again. What they could all agree on was that Sumia had an argument with her mother. Some said Duchess Rebeck was upset that Sumia got married without her there. Some say the Duchess was angry that Sumia married someone _other_ than Chrom. To everyone's credit no one ever asked Sumia or Frederick about it.

There was a second rumor that also floated around. Liam had a sweetheart who worked in the castle. And that sweetheart was once a part of the Grimleal, which was why he kept it quiet. These rumors disagreed on whether or not Liam wanted to propose to her. And then there were some people who were betting on it.

For some of the Shepherds life went on. Lon'qu was apparently working with Olivia to perfect a technique done by Basilio. Nowi dragged Libra across the garrison to have him talk to the others. Miriel studied Vaike as he practiced. And Lissa forced Gaius into working with her on one of her little projects. They were waiting for some direction, they were waiting to march out again and finally end the conflict with Gangrel.

They had a little more than a week and a half until their perfect opportunity came. Gangrel would be away from civilians, and he would be traveling. It was obvious this tour was to show Plegia who was in charge, so what a better opportunity? But Anali needed to discuss her plans with the army's general. She needed to speak to Chrom before they marched into a huge mess.

The tactician was about to give up for the day. She was tired, and her arm was beginning to ache from using her crutch. But she was met with a stroke of luck when she wandered into the mess hall for something to eat. Chrom must have had the same idea, or he was looking for a little peace and quiet. Seeing Chrom again made Anali happy, almost as happy as the day of the wedding. "Chrom!" she exclaimed. "Just the man I wanted to see. We need to talk."

The prince seemed surprised to see Anali, flustered and nervous. "It's about the route on our next march," Anali said, digging around her messenger bag for the map. "I was looking at the map and I thought…" She looked up to see Chrom avoiding eye contact with her. "Chrom? Are you even listening to me?"

"Huh? Yes, of course," Chrom said, looking at her. He paused for a moment and his eyes wandered to the side. "Actually, no. I kind of had something… something to do."

"Chrom we can't put this off!" Anali shot back. "Unless you want to lose control of the army with a half-baked plan because of communication failures. Didn't you say that we're close friends, no secrets between us? Didn't you mean that?"

"No! I mean, yes!" Chrom blurted out. He held up one hand, trying to calm himself. "I _swear_, it's not like that."

Now it was Anali's turn to avoid looking at him. "Look, I know you've been avoiding me lately. A-And I think I disserve to know why. Have you come to dislike my company now?" Her blood ran cold as she asked, "Do you… do you…"

"No!" the prince shouted desperately. "Of course I don't dislike you, Anali! Nothing could be further from the truth."

"Then why have you been avoiding me?"

Chrom's voice caught in his throat. Anali's eyes were large and pleading. He was hurting her, Chrom knew this, and it wasn't as though his actions made him feel like the king of the world either. But her face was really beginning to pile on the guilt. "D-Don't… Don't look at me like that…" Chrom said through a sigh. He pushed his bangs back as he continued, "It's just that… we've been fighting together a lot. We always find our way to each other's side. At first, I thought of you as an ally, then a comrade, and finally a friend. I've felt the bonds of trust between us grow stronger and stronger. A-And then I realized… you were more than just a friend."

Anali's brow rose. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I care about you, Anali. As a man, and you as a woman."

"Chrom, we can't-"

"Wait. Please! You've made me come this far, and now I'm going to say my piece."

"O-Okay?"

Chrom took in a few calming breaths. This was it, Chrom was going to lay everything on the table and accept the consequences. He couldn't keep it in anymore, for himself and for her. He wanted her to know, for better or for worse. No matter what things between them would be okay in the end, even if she did not feel the same. Their bonds were strong. They were since they first met. Everything between then and now was leading up to this moment. "Anali," Chrom said breathily. "I'm in love with you."

Her eyes widened as face flushed scarlet. "Oh…"

"I have been from the very first moment I laid eyes on you," Chrom confessed with a slight smile. There was a clear blush on his own face. "I just didn't realize it until just now."

Anali's blush deepened. Did she hit her head? Was she dreaming? "Look," Chrom continued. "I know this is sudden, but I'm not trying to force you into a decision, believe me. Whatever your answer, I shall abide by it - no matter how painful. And come what may, we'll always be friends. That I promise."

Her heart pounded in her ears. He…? Her…? Anali felt like she was soaring. She felt like she was drowning. She wasn't sure if she should sing or cry. She wasn't even sure how long she felt like this. Anali felt miserable over the past few days when she thought Chrom hated her. When he spoke to her again she was happy.

But this… Gods, the timing couldn't have been worse! "I-I'm sorry, Chrom," Anali said after a pregnant pause. "The general and his chief tactician? Our first responsibly _must_ be to the soldiers we lead not to each other. You understand that, don't you?"

Chrom looked down trying to hide his potential heartbreak. "Yes, I do," he murmured.

"B-But, you know, this war will end soon enough. And we'll emerge victorious and bring peace back to the realm. When that day happens, we'll be free to follow our hearts."

The prince looked back up at Anali with wide eyes. "_Our_ hearts?" he repeated hopefully.

"Y-Yes…" Anali said bashfully. "Because I love you as well."

Chrom stared at her, eyes wide as he took a moment to register what Anali had just said. Beaming he cupped Anali's face into his hands and kissed her. She froze for a moment, overwhelmed by the touch, by the fire she felt inside of her, by the colors she saw in her minds eye. Her eyes slowly closed as Anali placed her free hand over Chrom's and returned the kiss. She stood by what she said about them waiting, but surely they could afford this one gesture.

She was breathless by the time Chrom's lips parted from hers. "Anali, listen to me," Chrom said resting his forehead against hers. "You are the wind at my back and the sword at my side. Together, my love, we shall build a peaceful world… Just you and me…"

* * *

**Authors Note: **Whoo-hoo! We got one marriage down! Perfect chapter for Valentines Day!

I'll say that I'll only be writing one more wedding in the story proper (you can probably figure out whose), simply because there are so many characters, it'd get repetitive. So, at most, we'll probably get news of X and Y either marrying off screen, or in some cases they'll simply be engaged and marry sometime between the Endgame and the epilogue.

So, Frederick and Sumia's wedding is somewhat based off of my first playthrough of _Awakening_. They were the first units to marry, and I immediately got the image of them running around to find Libra to have him marry them. So for writing the story, I thought it was a good idea to have them marry after Emmeryn's death, but sometime before the final battle against Gangrel. It brings in a bit of levity after a few drama-filled chapters. Also I just found it extremely amusing that Freddy Bear is the first of the Shepherds to marry.

Frederick is easily my favorite out of Sumia's marriage pool (thought I do have a soft spot for Sumia and Gaius, thought I find that they have more of a rom-com feel). Not only were their supports downright adorable, but I do feel like they are able to appreciate each other much more than their other possible spouses. Sumia can appreciate the extremes Frederick takes in his job, and in turn Frederick appreciates Sumia's ready and willing attitude. And THEN you throw Cynthia into the mix and it's a perfect storm. I see Cynthia as being the ONLY one of Frederick's possible daughters who will _**willingly **_wear his _'Papa's Pride and _Joy' jacket (right there with Owain and Morgan. The Justice Cabal strikes again…?).

Yeah, I'm talking more about Freddy Bear and Sumia than Chrom and Anali. _***aggressively innocent whistling***_

_***whispers* **_Also good song to listen to while reading both confessions is _I Love You Too Much_ from _**The Book of Life**_.

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Chapter Fifteen  
The Mad King of Plegia**

It seemed like the council had been split into two groups since they returned to Ylisstol. Those who wanted Chrom to have his coronation right away, and those who wanted to wait. Chrom was in the latter category, he wanted to wait until Gangrel was no longer a threat. It did not feel right to step up as the Exalt publicly until Gangrel's reign had come to and end. He couldn't take the throne until Emmeryn's and Ylisse's justice had been delivered.

Chrom knew full well that the _instant_ he took the throne the council would be pushing for a royal wedding. Although Chrom knew who that woman would be, he agreed with her about waiting, marriage could wait until the war was over. They would wait, but it had become increasingly difficult for either of them to act as though nothing had happened. They began to share bashful smiles, or just start giggling whenever the other was talking as though they were enjoying an inside joke.

It must have been painfully obvious that _something_ happened between them.

Within the next few days Anali found that she could somewhat get around without her crutch, but the limp made it clear that she would have to sit the coming battle out. It was a thought that made Anali feel a little useless, especially after what everyone did to get her the blossoms, but she understood. Fighting would make it worse.

In spite of their moments of giddy awkwardness, Chrom and Anali worked feverously on their strategy. With Gangrel's cross country tour coming up Chrom or Anali were speaking with more and more of the Shepherds to tell them what they were to do. Anali did not need to be told that Chrom wanted to face Gangrel himself, she knew. The best way to do that was through a Pegasus Knight; namely Cordelia. When Chrom himself asked Cordelia if she could fly him to Gangrel she immediately said yes, and then got strangely… unprofessional. Giggly, fumbling over her words, and a little childish. He had to ask if she was feeling okay. "Never better!" she assured him.

She left him with a bounce in her step. What had put her into such a good mood?

Cordelia couldn't believe it; Prince Chrom had approached and spoke to her. It was just like a dream, granted in Cordelia's fantasies they rarely talked about battle. Usually her fantasies ended with Chrom realizing there was a connection between them, then he would ask her to always stay by his side. But still he asked her to fly him across the field! Cordelia could have started singing right then and there!

Lissa sat beside Gaius outside on the garrison grounds. She got him to help her with her embroidery again. It seemed like what she was exposed to as far as politics went changed after Emmeryn. Perhaps Emmeryn was trying to shield Lissa from the harshness of politics, but if, gods forbid, something happened to Chrom…

So, Lissa decided it was finally time for her to step up to the plate and started to keep up with Ylisse's politics as well as helping the people. The past few days were a little hectic for Lissa to say the least. She just wanted to relax a little and work on her needlework, especially since she and Gaius had gotten quite friendly as of late.

"Okay, so I poke this through here, and loop it over… there?" she asked mimicking her intentions.

"No, not quite," Gaius said taking the needlework from her. "Here, lemme show you. _First_ you loop, then…"

Lissa's mouth formed an 'oh' as Gaius made the stitch. "Okay, I see!" she said. "That wasn't so hard. And look, it's finished!"

"That's some pretty nice work there, Princess," said Gaius. He handed her the needlework back as he laid back in the grass. "Although I think I did everything but that twisted blue bit in the corner."

"Hee hee! Yeah I guess you did help an awful lot, didn't you? Actually, if you keep helping me like that, I'm never going to learn."

"Is that so bad? I mean, you're a princess, right? If you need something sewn, you could always just ask the royal seamstress or something."

The ginger suddenly felt a tug at his bangs as Lissa pulled at a tendril. "That is _totally_ not how I operate, mister!" she said in a huff. She crossed her arms over her chest. "I refuse to become one of those lazy nobles who can't even butter their own crumpets! Not that I've learned to do most anything useful so far…"

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself, Princess. This stuff takes time."

Lissa thought for a moment. "All right, Gaius!" she declared pointing straight at him. "I want to learn every skill you know!"

"Er…" his voice trailed off. "I'm not really the teaching type-"

"Nonsense! Don't be so modest! Teach me stuff! _Pleeeeeeeeease_?!"

She finished her little show by grabbing Gaius by the shoulders, then she would shake him. It left him seeing stars. "I s'ppose it's bad form to turn down a princess," Gaius replied weakly. He smiled regardless.

Lissa's arms shot up into the air as a sign of victory. Had either of them been listening carefully they might have heard the lovely tune that was played on delicate strings. Cordelia sat behind the harp, plucking at the strings so that they made lovely music. She always loved the harp, playing it never failed to help her release the emotions she tried to bottle up. In today's case it was her joy, Cordelia was still so giddy at Prince Chrom's request because it was probably the most he would ever ask of her.

She had loved Prince Chrom for quite some time, but could never act on these emotions. He was the prince after all, Cordelia was just the child of a couple of villagers. It would never work out. But still, Prince Chrom went up to her and asked her for assistance.

Plucking at the last of the strings Cordelia allowed them to vibrate a moment before she gently placed her hands flat on the strings, silencing them. She was surprised to hear the sound of clapping. When she looked up she saw Stahl, out of his armor, leaning against the doorframe, clapping. "Hello, Stahl," Cordelia said with a smile. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Oh, no," Stahl said holding his hands up. "I was just drawn here by the sound of sweet music."

"You are kind to say so. But in truth, I'm quite out of practice."

Out of practice? Wasn't Cordelia just playing for Chrom's big birthday bash a month ago? "What?" Stahl asked. "You play beautifully! And one of my favorite Ylissean folk songs, to boot!"

"It's been so long since I last played that one," Cordelia said through an exhale. "I feel like I've messed up somewhere along the way."

"I remember the song you played at Chrom's birthday ball," Stahl said. He leaned his back against the doorframe. "It made me think of a brook on a spring day. Gods, it feels like so long ago."

"It does," Cordelia agreed. It was a month ago, maybe more, but it seemed like years ago. Years ago when her squad were enjoying themselves, years ago when Lady Emmeryn was watching over her people, years ago when Captain Phila was still here. Shaking her head Cordelia reached up for the shelf and plucked up a book of sheet music. "I suppose I could muddle through this if you like it that much."

"Wait, you were playing from memory just then?" gasped Stahl. Now that he thought about it he didn't see her with the score at the ball either. "That's even more impressive!"

"Please, Stahl, I'm serious," Cordelia shot back. Memories of her sister-knights teasing her flooded back all at once. "Stop trying to flatter me. Compared to Phila, I'm just a clumsy amateur."

"Well, sure. But Phila was the best I've seen. She could have joined the royal orchestra if she wanted."

Cordelia smiled sadly. Phila was renowned for two things, her skills as a knight, and her gift of music. She would often grace the court with a song for Ylisse's most celebrated holidays in the winter. It was a treat everyone looked forward to. "I always dreamed that one day I might be as skilled as her," Cordelia confessed, she moved a tendril of hair behind her ear. "It's silly, I know."

"Hey, never say never!" Stahl stood up straight. "Especially when you're so abundantly talented."

Immediately Cordelia stood up with enough force to knock down her stool. "Stop it, seriously!" she snapped. She took a deep breath in then ran her fingers through her bangs. "See, now I'm just getting embarrassed. I gotta go."

She strolled past Stahl, and disappeared down the hallway. The Cavalier rubbed the back of his untamable hair. "That Cordelia…" his voice trailed off as he thought. "She's never satisfied with being second best in anything. Guess I'll have to step up my game if I'm ever going to compete with that."

Stahl glanced back at the harp; his brow rose as a thought popped into his head. Quickly, he slipped out of the room and asked around for Liam. The rumor mill couldn't decide if Liam asked his lady friend for her hand or not, but Stahl was confident that he had and she said yes. At least now anyway. He seemed happier the past couple of days even if he tried not to show it.

He found Liam in the library plunking at the strings on his lyre. "Hey, Liam," Stahl said quickly closing the door behind him. "I was wondering if you could help me with something."

"That depends," Liam said, he looped his lyre onto his belt. "What kind of something are we talking about?"

"I was wondering if you could teach me to play the harp."

"The harp?"

"Yeah. Aren't the lyre and the harp pretty much the same thing?"

"No," Liam said firmly. "For one the lyre doesn't have the same range as the harp, there's less strings. It's like saying the violin and viola are the same thing."

"Uh…"

"What?"

"I always thought that viola was a fancy way of saying violin," Stahl confessed.

Liam dropped his head into his waiting palm and rubbed his eyes. Slowly he dragged his hand down and sighed. "Okay," he exhaled. "You want to play the harp? I'm a little out of practice, too used to the lyre, but I should be able to teach you a thing or two. _However_, I suggest we wait until after our next march."

"Agreed."

After three days and several notes back and forth from Regna Ferox the Shepherds met with the Khans and their army, and marched out to Plegia. They had things time as perfectly as possible and would meet Gangrel as he traveled from one village to another.

However, things were not looking well for King Gangrel. There were rows of protesters in each village demanding he stepped down. The common folk demanding the _king_, how absurd! His men had stopped for the night as they traveled between villages when Aversa reported that the princeling and his men were spotted. "Back already?" Gangrel asked in mock surprised. "It feels like we've only just said our good-byes."

"Our scouts report they are in surprisingly goods spirits, all things considered…"

"Since when do you trust our scouts? What does it matter? They're armed like beggars compared to us! I could break their ranks as easily as I break wind."

"I'd love to hear the song the Bards make of that," Aversa said flatly.

"Aversa," Gangrel said with a long, bony finger erect. "There is a truth about the world this Ylissean whelp must understand. A man is either strong… or he is dead!"

"Your Highness!" one of Gangrel's soldiers spoke up as he approached the pair. "I'm afraid I bring dire news."

"Oh?" the Plegian King asked disinterested.

"Our troops are laying down their weapons and deserting en masse."

Gangrel's face paled at this; his eyes seemed to shrink. "AGAIN?!" he bellowed, whipping around to face his subordinate. "Haven't we weeded out the traitorous bastards already?!"

"It would appear, sire, this lot wanted to make a statement with today."

This was not happening! The last couple of weeks since Her Holiness leapt off the cliff, not only was her body stolen, but Gangrel's army had been falling apart on itself. Not a day went by when someone resigned or just up and left. And now _this_ happens when the little princeling's about to attack?!

Grey rain clouds billowed out over the horizon covering several miles of land. Chrom stood beside Anali as they looked over her notes, going last minute details before the engaged in battle. They came up with a compromise for Anali's roll in the battle. She would be mounted on a Pegasus, and would stick with her tome. She would only attack if necessary, she was only flying to pass messages and instructions along. "I think we're ready," Anali said folding up her notes.

"Milord!" Frederick called approaching the two. "I've a report from Khan Flavia. The Plegian army is in disarray."

Chrom arched a brow. "What do you mean?"

"It seems many of their soldiers are opposed to further violence," explained Frederick. "There has been infighting, desertion… and it would appear that this has happened before since our last conflict. Gangrel is trying to stamp out the mutiny by force, but with little success. Outside of a few faithful who serve him directly, his army has all but collapsed."

Anali felt her mouth open slightly. "This is incredible news," Chrom said in awe. "But why…?" He cut himself off as the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. "Emmeryn…"

"Yes, milord, Emmeryn," Frederick explained. His eyes were closed and his was expression unreadable. "The reports say Gangrel's men chant her name as they abandon the field. There's even news of civilians demanding her retribution and that he abdicate the throne. Lady Emmeryn's words, and her sacrifice, has made her a folk hero of sorts."

"Emm…" Chrom said just barely above a whisper. He looked down at the ground and began trembling to the point where Anali worried he was crying. "Why did it take me so long to understand? She believed all people desire peace. She knew the Plegians wanted it, too. It just took her to give them the courage to act."

Anali could not help but smile as she felt the tears behind her eyes. She was happy and relieved. Emmeryn, and her ideals, still came through in the end. Anali did not know the Exalt well, but she could never doubt her courage, for she clearly had more than Anali did, or her love. Especially her love.

"I hope she can see this, wherever she is," Chrom murmured to himself. He looked up at his faithful knight and said, "Frederick, tell the other's we're heading out. Today we put an end to Mad King Gangrel and bring peace back to the land."

* * *

It was obvious that they out numbered Gangrel's army, with their only strategy being 'find and kill.' What Anali wanted the Shepherds to do was essentially dominate the field by boxing them in and keep them (mostly Gangrel) from running. It was supposed to end today, and this morning Anali was not quite sure if they were being overly optimistic with that goal in mind. Now, Anali was no longer as doubtful. The plan, however would remain the same. Box in the army, take out most of the frontline, then Cordelia would take Chrom straight to Gangrel to finish the job.

Anali had wanted Olivia to team up with Lon'qu, given that the poor girl was actually very, very nervous about the whole ordeal, and was by her own words not that strong in battle. On paper it seemed a bit of an odd idea to have her pair up with the resident gynophobe, but Anali found that they were somewhat comfortable around each other. Yes, Lon'qu still insisted she keep far enough away so that Olivia wasn't touching him, but Lon'qu was still able to push his fear of women aside on the field. And Olivia seemed to trust him, probably because he was Basilio's former champion. So Lon'qu was able to pick up the slack.

This was the first time Anali had actually seen Anna in battle. Even if the merchant had become amongst the members of the army she was still trying to sell products to the others. Her best customer was probably Nowi, who did not quite understand how to spend her money. Anna however was skilled in swordplay, haggling, and _healing_, of all things. Perhaps it was a stroke of luck that she offered her services to the Shepherds.

Frederick, Sully, and Stahl lead three thirds of the group as they boxed in what remained of Gangrel's soldiers. They had divided out the Shepherds into three groups as best as they could. Tearing through the opposing men was much easier than anyone could have anticipated when they first marched back out. There was still hope, even if they failed their mission today there was a chance that Plegia would revolt against Gangrel and force him out of power. Either way, Gangrel would not be lasting much longer, that much was obvious.

Over head, Anali circled around the field as the others fought below her. She wanted to be more involved, she wanted to be on the ground fighting alongside everyone. But, this was what she agreed to, this was what Chrom asked of her. She told him that she would not exert herself and make her injury worse. The puncture wounds were feeling better, they really were, but they still stung a little when she was bathing, and they still looked pretty ugly. The wounds would likely scar.

She urged the Pegasus to the side as an icy ball of Nowi's breath headed in her direction. "Sorry!" called Nowi.

The Clerics stayed close by their partners (Nowi for Elaine, Gaius for Lissa), and Maribelle tore through the field with Donnel on her horse behind her. Sully and Sumia successfully struck down three units one after another. And Gregor almost held Ricken under his arm like a rugby ball and slashed through Gangrel's men.

Out of the corner of Anali's eye she caught sight of a flash of red and blue. Chrom must have given Cordelia the okay to take him to Gangrel. But Anali wasn't worried, Chrom was a stronger man than when they last saw Gangrel. Besides, Chrom wasn't going to leave Lissa as the sole heir to the Ylissean throne.

Cordelia could have sworn she felt Chrom's breath on the back of her neck. Internally she was jumping for joy, singing, and even rolling around like a child in a giddy glee. This was going to be another one of her precious memories with Chrom, made all the more precious when they came out victorious. Following her instructions, she urged her mare to fly lower. She felt Chrom leap off the Pegasus; Cordelia did not return to the battle field until she was sure Chrom landed safely.

Keeping his eyes on Gangrel, Chrom slowly removed the Falchion from its sheath. Gangrel himself carried a jagged blade, a Levin sword. A rare magic sword that could summon a single bolt of lightning. "Good day, my little princeling!" Gangrel greeted with a mock salute. His voice was a bit overly casual, even for Gangrel. And there was the look on his face, his irises seemed to have shrunken and Gangrel's grin was ridiculously wide. "Still dreaming of your squashed sister?"

"No more talk, Gangrel," Chrom said calmly, he pointed the tip of his sword at the Mad King. "You die today, and peace returns to both Ylisse and Plegia."

"Such hypocrisy!" spat Gangrel. "You _despise_ me, wretch! You want to _cut me down_! You don't know the _first thing _about peace! _No man does_!"

"I know more than you ever will."

Gangrel's shoulders shock, he chortled. "More than me?" he repeated. "MORE THAN ME?! You _ARE_ me! When life asks you a question, you answer with blood!"

Chrom faltered, his stony expression dropped and he lowered his sword. "Maybe you're right," he confessed. "I will never be Emmeryn. I am not as forgiving as she was. All I have left are her words, and her memory. Were I alone, I might be driven to madness… or worse." Shaking his head, he stood strong once more. "But I'm not alone. My friends and brothers-in-arms stand behind me."

"Are you done?!" Gangrel demanded. "May I finally vomit now? Have you learned _nothing_, princey? Men are beast! Nothing more! We _fight_, we _kill_, we _devour_ our prey! Beast do not stand behind beasts, little prince! The use each other only so long as it suits their own selfish purpose! Take a look around you!"

"So you acknowledge why your own soldiers refuse to stand behind you?" Chrom challenged. "Why your own people demand the end of your reign? You are a poison to your own people, a festering wound. And I will do what my sister could not."

Gangrel tilted his head to the side with a half-crazed look in his eye. All the princeling did was prove his point. Another hypocrite from the kingdom of hypocrisy. "Such a clever tongue you have, little prince," he admitted. "It will look quite fetching hanging on my mantel, next to your sister's corpse! C'MON!"

Lightning shot out of Gangrel's sword. Immediately, Chrom ducked out of the way, he sprinted forward and drew his blade back. Both swords clashed, creating yellow and blue sparks. Their blades collided several times as Gangrel, cackling wildly, was playing on the offense. He was attacking without any rhyme or reason, he wasn't thinking things through.

They both only had the vaguest sense of what was going on around them. Gangrel's army was hanging on by the smallest of threads, that much was obvious. Perhaps they were from the moment the battle started. Some were dead, others were still hanging in there. Gangrel's army collapsed, and he even gave Aversa the boot, who took it all in stride.

Gangrel had to ponder if the men who stayed, stayed for him or just to die as patriots. To die as heroes in the peoples eyes. It mattered not. Men were born alone, and then they die alone. Gangrel was no fool, his people did not care for him, just as the princeling's underlings didn't care for him. They just wanted to keep their own hides safe. In the end they were both alone.

Chrom ducked one of Gangrel's attacks. He spun around as he stood up and clashed blades with Gangrel once more. He put all his strength into it, shoving Gangrel back. While the Mad King was shoved back he struggled to regain his balance. Chrom was quick to Gangrel's side, and drove his elbow into his chest, knocking him off his feet completely. Their eyes met for the briefest moment before Chrom drove his sword into Gangrel's body.

Gangrel froze momentarily. The pain was excruciating, but it lasted for a moment, just a moment. Perhaps Chrom had been seeing things, but in that brief moment before Gangrel died, the Mad King found inner peace.

With their king dead what remained of the Plegian forces began to throw their weapons down in surrender. The government was undoubtedly in a bit of chaos now, but there was a chance Plegia would be able to pick itself up. Anali found herself with Chrom, Basilio and Flavia after they regrouped. The Shepherds as a whole took little damage. At most there were some bruising and cuts, nothing that their healers could not handle. "Looks like it's finished," Flavia said with her hands on her hips. "Once their messenger delivers our terms, we can put an end to this bloody business, once and for all."

"We may have won," Chrom said through a sigh. "But somehow I don't feel like celebrating."

"Victory can be as bitter as it is sweet, boy," Basilio said, clapping him on the back. "It's good you learn that now."

"This whole ordeal has left many of Regna Ferox's good soldiers dead," said Flavia. "We need to see to our dead and the families they've left behind. Then it's time to attend to the living and rebuild our army."

"I'm sorry, Flavia," Chrom said turning to her. "Your sacrifice will not be forgotten. Ylisse will compensate your nation in whatever fashion-"

"Oh?" questioned the Khan. "In that case, how about you hand over the Fire Emblem and we'll call it even?"

Anali almost jumped back when she heard this. After everything? After what Emmeryn did to keep it safe? But her worries were gone when the Khan chuckled. "Just a little Feroxi humor," she said. "Don't worry about our finances, Chrom. Reparations will fall to Plegia, I've seen their treasury - they can _well_ afford it."

Basilio sighed, "Yes, pity the man who stands between Flavia and a full coffer."

"I'll have to remember that when you come to visit Ylisstol," Chrom said with a weak smile.

A Feroxi soldier approached them with news from the Plegian messenger, so the Khan's left the prince and his tactician promising to return with news for them. Anali smiled slightly as she kicked at the dirt beneath her feet. For a moment, she allowed herself to wonder what would happen between her and Chrom. She did say that they should wait until the war was over before they could act on their feelings. However, Anali also understood that not only did Chrom need to take his place as the Exalt, he had to see to his own people.

When she looked up at Chrom she found that he was looking away with his brow knitted together. "What's wrong, Chrom?" she asked. "You look so serious."

"I…" Chrom's voice trailed off as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I think I owe you an apology, Anali. This wasn't your war to fight."

"But I still chose to fight it," Anali argued. "Call it a hunch, but I doubt you'd let anyone who didn't want to stay and fight be here now."

He smiled at this. When she was right, she was right. "I've been thinking a lot lately, about everything. And about you, Anali," he said taking her hands into his own. "In many ways, you're the best fighter I've ever known… and the best friend."

She smiled at him, and in that moment Chrom saw what his future held for him. "I never want to let you go, Anali," he said, squeezing her hands slightly. "Does that make me selfish?"

"If so, then I would be just as bad," Anali admitted. "I would be with you always."

His future could not have been any clearer in that moment. There was some part of Chrom that told him to wait, that he had only known Anali for four or five months. But Chrom was sure about this, he had never been so sure about anything before. "Anali…"

"Yes, Chrom?"

"We met under unusual circumstances," said Chrom. He let go of Anali's hands and took a step back. He could feel his face beginning to heat up as he spoke. "But lives have been made from far less. My sister always followed her heart, so now I'm going to follow mine."

Anali's brow creased. "What I want to ask is…" Chrom said but the words caught in his throat before he could finish. "Well, what I mean is…"

He suddenly dropped down onto one knee, an action that startled Anali. He kept his right arm crossed over his chest, over his heart, with his head bowed slightly. "Will you marry me?"

Anali brought a hand to her mouth as her eyes widened. This was not the direction she was expecting. Especially now when they were only aware that they had mutual feelings for a relatively short time. Logic told her to break it to him easily, that this was too soon, but Anali said 'fuck it' to logic. She loved this man, and she just said that she would be with him always.

Lowering her hand, a wide smile broke upon her face. "Yes."

Chrom lifted his head to look up at her, he broke into a fit of laughter as he stood up. Anali suddenly felt herself be swept off her feet as Chrom gathered her into his arms. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders she couldn't keep her own laugher in as Chrom spun them around in place once. "With one word you've made me the happiest man in all the realm!" he said, still carrying her like a princess. "But I must ask for a bit of patience for the near future. My first duty must be to heal the scars of war and assume my role for my people. But then, we can begin our life together."

"It's okay," Anali assured him. "I'm a tactician, remember? We'll figure something out together."

"Thank you."

"I can't help but think back to the day we first met," said Anali. "Strange, isn't it. In a few months we went from a couple of strangers to planning a future together."

When she looked back on it like that, Anali wanted to weep in joy. She was so sure that she didn't have a future. That no one was willing to wed someone with no past. How glad she was to be so wrong. Her future was in sight now, and it was with a man she loved so dearly. "I know together we can bring joy back to the palace," Chrom said with his forehead against Anali's. "I'll do everything I can to make the castle a happy home for us… my love."

Wrapping her arms around his neck, Anali rested her head against his neck. "My love."

* * *

**Authors Note:** I really tried to write Gangrel as though he were coming unhinged. The fact that his men were deserting him and his people were on the brink of a revolution… I kinda pictured him having an Azula-like breakdown. Speaking of the Plegian civilians, it seemed a bit odd to me that there was no mention of what their reaction to everything was. Yeah, I know we gotta be more concerned with the guys trying to kill us, but it's just one of those little lines to make me feel better.

And Chrom proposed to Anali ^-^ I was listening to the track from **The Last Naruto the Movie OST**, _Naruto and Hinata_ while writing the proposal scene (the song makes me so happy!) Yeah, sorry if you were actually expecting a ring, I actually like that the F!MU is the only one who doesn't get a ring during the proposal scene. Not only is it not as formulaic, but Chrom told Anali that they were going to have to wait for a bit. They'll make their engagement announcement when the time is right.

Now, on the one hand, I feel so typical for having it Chrom/F!MU, but it's the one, I find, that works the most for the game. All of the plot conveniences that come with the F!MU as Chrom's wife, and the drama, and simply how well they are together. Honestly, it's my favorite out of both of their marriage pools. Speaking of which, ooooh, I can't wait till we meet Morgan!

The next few chapters are going to be a little tricky. I am dedicating a few chapters to what happened during the timeskip, I just don't know how many chapter's it'll be. But I'm hoping it won't be any more than five at most. This sucker's going to be longer than the game, and we still have the future child paralogue's! I mean, I think I can get it to two future children per chapter when we get to that but… I just really hope this story doesn't get longer than fifty chapters…. -,-;

Also I want to apologize if I said something wrong during Liam's explanation about the difference between the harp and lyre/violin and viola. I really don't know much about instruments…

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Chapter Sixteen  
Changes**

Anali decided that it was probably for the best that they waited a bit before announcing their engagement. Not only did it give Chrom time to settle into his new role, but Anali time to prepare. Not _everyone_ would be okay with the union, especially in light of recent events. Ylisse's new Exalt and an unknown Plegian woman, there was bound to be a few glares. So waiting would allow Anali a chance to be with the people and show them that she was ready and willing to work alongside Chrom as his wife.

For the next few days, Anali accompanied Chrom whenever he traveled to Ylisstol to oversee the repairs. Several shops had been gutted of everything they had, and many men and women were injured in an effort of retaliation. Various homes were made into refuges for those who were too injured or homeless. Everyone, man, woman or child tried to pitch in in any way they could to rebuild. The church was pretty much destroyed, it appeared that the Plegians used the same blasting power they used on Ylisse Castle.

Anali whipped up a few schematics for the reconstruction of the church and several other buildings that were far too damaged. They had to complete it all before the winter, but if they followed her schedule they should have been able to restore the church and the buildings before the trees were deprived of their leaves.

Whenever she was alone with Chrom she found that their hands would brush together every so often. Anali wanted, badly, to hold that hand, but managed to keep herself under control. The day would come when they could do so openly, and Anali did assure Chrom that she could wait.

To what she understood, after seeing the repairs to Ylisstol Chrom, and a select few of the Shepherds would travel to the various duchies and hear from their Dukes or Duchesses what the damage was. Lissa would remain at the palace during this, and Chrom had asked Anali to stay with her. She agreed.

If there was one person who disserved to know about Chrom and Anali's recent engagement before the announcement was even made, it was Lissa. After all, Chrom was her brother, and Anali would become a part of the family one day. Lissa came close to tackling Chrom to the floor when he had told her. She had actually succeeded in knocking Anali to the wall during their hug when they cross paths again. Lissa had nearly rendered Anali death with the high-pitch squeal in her ear.

When she released Anali, Lissa lead Anali into a private area so they could talk. "I take it Chrom told you," Anali said with a smile.

Lissa pressed to know if they actually talked about anything yet, when the wedding was, how many children they were having, and how Lissa wanted a niece. That last one got Anali to laugh. Lissa understood that they were waiting for a bit first and she understood that this news was just between the three of them. But your siblings did not get engaged everyday, as far as Lissa was concerned she was allowed to be excited.

A few days after they returned to Ylisstol, after a few days of working with the villagers talk about Chrom's coronation was at the front of everyone's minds. The castle's great hall was closed off for decorating, council took up most of Chrom's time. There were things to plan, fittings, and rehearsals, and the day was coming quickly.

During dinner, three days after their final battle against Gangrel, Chrom personally announced that everyone of the Shepherds were his personal guests at the coronation. In his own words, Chrom would not have gotten anywhere without them. Immediately the girls got together to talk about what they would wear for the occasion, even Sully of all people got in on the conversation. Anali mentioned that she was thinking about wearing the same dress she wore at Chrom's ball and was met with a smack from Maribelle's parasol. "You will do no such thing!" she snapped. "As a rule I _abhor_ outfit repeating, if there was ever a time to avoid it, _this is it_!"

So she was supposed to go out and buy a new dress she was probably going to wear only once? Aye…

The day after Lissa sought out Anali. She was not quite sure if it was because of the news, or if it was just really good timing, but Lissa had asked Anali if she could help her learn magic. Apparently Lissa had tried on her own, and only succeeded in burning herself. "Why not ask Miriel?" Anali asked out of curiosity. "She's just as good."

"I know," Lissa said fiddling with her apron. "But Miriel likes to use big words and such flowery language I can hardly follow her direction."

Anali had to nod in agreement. It was a little difficult to understand Miriel sometimes, to the point where Anali was surprised that she was speaking with Vaike a lot these days. To be fair, according to Stahl, it confused her as much as it did everyone else. "What brought this up?" asked Anali.

Lissa began to play with her fingers. "Just… _stuff_," she replied. "You know I was told that Emmeryn was a Cleric too before our parents died. E-Even… Even my mother was a healer of sorts, so I've been told."

Anali nodded respectfully. She didn't quite get where Lissa was going with this, but listened politely all the same. "I guess it came naturally," Lissa shrugged. "But… you know, even Emmeryn learned magic as she got older. That's how Elaine escaped, didn't you hear?"

She did but it never really registered to her. Anali had a difficult time imagineing Emmeryn every lifting her hand in violence, Emmeryn was someone who did understand that sometimes they needed to act, and, had she been in their army, she would have been with Lissa, Maribelle, and Elaine healing the other's injuries. It must have been a sight to see when Emmeryn used the spell against the solider to give Elaine a chance to escape. "I've been thinking lately," Lissa continued. "That I need to step up my game. I've been going to the meetings with Chrom and the council, and… Healing others is good, I'll kick anyone's butt who suggests otherwise."

Anali had to burst out laughing at that. She knew Lissa was equal parts joking as she was serious. But the mental image Anali got of Lissa trying to take on someone as big as Vaike was hilarious. Lissa must have seen the humor in her statement as she smiled. "What I'm trying to say is that I want to be able to take some form of initiative if I need to," said Lissa. "And I was thinking magic is my best option."

Anali nodded. "Let's see if Anna can sell us any basic tomes," she said. "Then we'll get started from there."

Lissa's smile brightened, she grabbed Anali by the arm and started dragging her across the garrison as they searched for Anna. She struggled to keep up with the sprightly princess, but all in all, Anali was excited. This gave her the perfect opportunity to bond with Lissa, to bond with the girl who would become her sister in due time.

Chrom could understand looking his best for special occasions. What he couldn't understand was why he needed a new outfit for _every_ occasion. The fittings for an outfit he would only ware once was tedious, and time consuming. One new outfit for every year or two and there you go. Of course, in some ways Chrom understood why this was different, he wasn't the prince anymore.

He wasn't the prince anymore. Five words that may very well carry the weight of the world, because of what they meant. Emm was gone and he couldn't even bury her, for all he knew Gangrel kept his sick promise. The people of Plegia wouldn't have allowed that, would they? Frederick said she was like a folk hero to them, and people heard what-

He flinched when he felt the needle poke into it. "Sorry, milord," the seamstress muttered an apology. Her words seemed to ring hallow, as she was so absorbed by her work.

Chrom looked up at the three mirrors as his brow furrowed. Had his hair been trimmed and slicked back he could have been Calhoun's doppelganger in these clothes. No matter how hard Chrom tried he couldn't rid himself of the resemblance.

Mercifully the door behind him was thrown open, the sound tore Chrom away from his gloomy thoughts. "Milord," he heard Frederick say. "You have a visitor."

"Can't it wait Frederick," Chrom said holding his arms out to the side for emphasis. "I'm a little busy at the moment."

"I understand milord. But believe me, you _want_ to see this one."

The seamstress was not happy to hear that Chrom would be out in a minute. She did not say anything, but her face made it clear that she wasn't paid enough to do this. Changing back into his regular clothes Chrom followed his loyal knight through the castle.

Frederick explained that their visitor, or rather _visitors,_ there were two, were waiting just outside the castle as they had a wagon with them. When Chrom stepped outside he was indeed met with two men, one who was probably around Chrom's age, and the other was a few decades older. The older man sat on their horse drawn wagon, which carried a wooden box covered in flowers. The young man was petting their horse, muttering affectionate words to the beast.

"Prince Chrom," the older man said. Slowly, he slid off his seat. "Well, from what I hear you won't be prince for much longer." The man chuckled to himself, before he cleared his throat. "I am Ghaith, and this is my friend, Nuzayh," he gestured to his younger companion. "We're both former soldier's for the Plegian military."

Chrom was confused when he heard this. He had to assume that Ghaith and Nuzayh were amongst those who deserted Gangrel. But that didn't explain why they were here, not really. Ghaith seemed troubled as he lined the edges of his hands against his lips briefly. "There just isn't any easy way to say this," the older man sighed. "You see, Prince Chrom, we were both witnesses to your sister's words… and sacrifice."

It was suddenly an icy cold day in July. Chrom allowed himself to wonder if, in the box was… "The both of us, and three others were the first to find her," Ghaith continued. "We… We should have brought her to you sooner… But how were we supposed to smuggle her out of the country and not be caught? We wanted to keep her out of Gangrel's hands, you see…"

Chrom imagined that he had aged several decades in a matter of seconds. He looked from the flower-covered box on the wagon, to Ghaith in front of him and back. The flowers made sense now, it was to hide the stench of decay. Emmeryn was in there... Gangrel never got his hands on her… She was back on Ylissean soil…

He approached Ghaith with the intention of expressing his immense gratitude, and to think him for doing them the service, but Chrom collapsed to his knees. Frederick stepped forward as Ghaith crouched down at the prince's side. Chrom held onto him much like a child to his father, and Ghaith just rubbed his back much like a father would have.

* * *

The state funeral was held two days later, the day before Chrom's coronation. In many stories the rain would have been pouring something fierce. But the day Exalt Emmeryn Ylisse was put to rest the sun was shining, there was not a cloud in the sky. It definitely _seemed_ like something Emmeryn would have wanted; that everyone keep smiling in her absence, and enjoy such a beautiful summer day. But it felt so wrong, especially to those who loved her so.

Lady Emmeryn's body had been moved from the makeshift casket she was delivered in, to a professionally made one, and then the coffin remained closed. The fall left her body disfigured, the impact itself, as Nuzayh explained, was anything but pretty. That was what he had to say before the real damage was inspected. Those with weak stomachs had to look away. And then there was the fact that three weeks passed since Emmeryn first died, it left them with little choice but to leave the casket closed during the funeral.

The coffin was made of mahogany and polished so much that it could have lit up an entire room on its own. Carved onto the surface was the Brand of the Exalt, though it was slightly obscured by the bouquet of yellow and white flowers that were common place in Plegia. A gift from the people who were inspired by her words and actions.

With her head bowed Anali listened as Libra lead the services. She wished she could remember if she had ever been to a funeral before. At least then she would know what she was supposed to do. Just standing still and keeping her head lowered seemed like something someone there for emotional support would do. But then again, maybe she was. Anali did not know Emmeryn that well; she didn't know what Emmeryn's favorite meal was, what she did to relax, her favorite time of day, anything about Emmeryn personally. And odds were whenever Anali thought about Emmeryn all she would remember about her was that one final leap of faith.

That did not seem right at all. There was much more to Emmeryn than just how she died. The thought filled Anali with bitterness, Emmeryn, in spirit or in person, was going to be her sister-in-law one day, and all she would remember about her was that leap of faith. That just wasn't fair.

Lowering her head further Anali willed herself to soak in Libra's words about the passing of human life and how the people they leave behind can go on in spite of their grief. Theirs is the little whisper you hear in your most desperate hour. Theirs is the voice telling you to be strong. They cannot be seen, but they are watching and-

_I love you, no matter what._

Anali's head snapped up, the only thing she saw in front of her was Libra, with a holy book in hand, beside Emmeryn's coffin, and the many, many people surrounding the scene. She could have sworn someone just spoke to her as plain as day, as though they were standing right there in front of her. Anali was hardly one to believe in ghost stories, despite the fact that most of the Shepherds swore up and down that they had their own personal ghost following them, so she must have just heard someone speaking to another person close to them. If there was an occasion for that sort of thing, this was it.

She allowed her eyes to wander and she found Chrom staring intently at his sisters casket. His shoulders were stiff as a board and his hand trembled. Anali reached out for Chrom's hand but she decided against the notion at the last minute and just ended up brushing her hand against his. If he wanted the comfort he could reach out for her. As Anali pulled her hand back Chrom grabbed a hold of it and squeezed. He probably wanted to squeeze than he was, but he didn't want to hurt her. Anali, on the other hand, wanted to do more to comfort Chrom. It would have been okay, wouldn't it? Given the circumstances not everyone would assume they were _together_, together.

She wanted to do more for him, but maybe this was the best she could.

To Lissa's credit when she said she was tired of crying all the time, she meant it. To a reasonable point. Frederick was the one to tell her that Emmeryn's body had been delivered to the castle safe and sound. Lissa spent the next hour or so bouncing back and forth between keeping it together, and sobbing. All with a smile. The things that must have been going through her head. Emmeryn's body on Ylissean grounds meant that she was never in Gangrel's hands and put up on display like he said. It also meant that Emm was home. But, on the other hand, it meant that they would have to bury her soon, and it meant that Lissa would never see her again.

If one were to talk to her that day they would have either been met with a calm, collected Lissa, or a sobbing Lissa that made little sense when she spoke. It got a little difficult during the emergency meeting to discuss funeral arrangements. Apparently, Lissa had to repeat herself when she blubbered out, "Excuse me, I just need a little tea, does anyone else want some?"

The following day she was as fine as anyone in her situation could be. And come the day of the funeral Lissa stood firm and her eyes were dried. It may have helped that Maribelle was holding her hand throughout the service, and Gaius was standing close by her. As much as Gaius was driving Anali crazy with his 'blackmail negotiations' he was a pretty decent guy as far as thieves went. It seemed like, in recent days, he had developed a bit of a soft spot for Lissa. Who knew what Maribelle had to say about that.

When the services concluded a line had formed in front of the coffin, each person lingered behind to pay the Exalt their respects. Come Anali's turn she knelt down at the foot of the coffin, as she had seen Chrom and Lissa before her do, and brought her hands together. The words just came to her, although Anali was sure they weren't exactly a prayer, but a couple of lines of a poem. She wasn't even sure if it was appropriate for a funeral, but the lines made her think of Emmeryn.

"'Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light,'" she quoted under her breath, it was fast and slurred enough that her lips could not be read easily. ''I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.'"

She would have to ask Liam about it and see if he knew it.

Done, she scooted to the side as royal siblings accepted condolences from the people. She was not the only one of the Shepherds sticking behind for moral support. Frederick was a given, as was Maribelle, but there was also Sumia, Sully, and Vaike. Anali felt a pang of jealousy when she saw this many people there for them both. Of course Anali wasn't the only one capable of being there for Chrom. Sully was one of his oldest friends, Vaike was his friend and rival, and, while Anali didn't know the full story, she suspected that there was a history of sorts between him and Sumia. Right now, Anali was his chief tactician first; his fiancée second.

As time went by Sully and Sumia began talking amongst themselves with the occasional quip from Maribelle. And Frederick was scolding Vaike for drawing too much attention to himself. Anali turned around to look at the rows of gravestones from past Ylissean royalty. At least a thousand years worth. Yikes…

She looked down at the first grave she saw. It was Calhoun and his wife's. Of course Emmeryn was placed beside them. Curious, Anali knelt down in front of the grave, careful not to step on the hem of her dress. It was only now Anali learned that his wife was named Silvia. The name seemed a bit… common. With names like Calhoun, Emmeryn and Chrom, Silvia and Lissa really felt out of place.

Anali looked at the death dates, Lissa had just barely turned a year old when they both died. A good month or so. And then there were the exact dates, Silvia died a day after her husband. Did that mean that whatever happened killed Calhoun instantly? That Silvia was putting up a fight before she died?

The day went by quickly, Anali went to bed emotionally exhausted. She head her coronation dress hanging by her cot, ready for the chaos that was bound to come in the morning. In the room it was just Anali and Cordelia, Elaine and Olivia were probably still bathing. Olivia seemed to be a bit skittish to share a bathing room with anyone and often asked one of the girl's to make sure no one was looking as Olivia bathed and changed.

After Anali changed into her night gown she sat back on her cot. "Hey, Cordelia?" she asked.

The red haired young woman turned to look at Anali. She was in a red nightgown, but for some reason, she always carried a pillow around their room. Right there in front of her, blocking her solar plexus and chest from view. "Yes?" asked Cordelia.

"In the cemetery I noticed Calhoun and his wife's graves," Anali said, fiddling with her blanket. "And I was kind of… wondering what happened to them. I mean, if you knew."

Cordelia's face twisted as her eyes traveled to the side. Oh, she knew, it was hard press to find someone in her generation who didn't. "They were caught in a landslide," Cordelia said finally. She took a seat on the cot across from Anali. "They were in Chon'sin to visit the royal family… it was raining pretty hard for a while at the time. They were _warned_ that travel would be dangerous… but they went anyway. What happened is anyone's guess, but what everyone could agree on was that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. There were enough witnesses in the outskirts of Chon'sin to get them immediate help but…"

She paused for a moment and leaned back. She must have been struggling to find the right words. Calhoun left the country in shambles, Anali figured he was not exactly as adored as Emmeryn was. "Exalt Calhoun had died on the spot," Cordelia said through a sigh. "I heard he was either struck in the chest by debris, or he was buried under the dirt and suffocated. Queen Silvia was injured… bad. She had already lost quite a bit of blood by the time they dug her out. She died of her injuries early the next morning."

"So, it was just a accident?" Anali asked. "No foul play?"

Cordelia nodded in response.

That actually explained a bit. The one responsible for Plegia's suffering was taken by a freak accident, in the eyes of those like Gangrel Plegia was unable to get vengeance on the man directly responsible for it. No wonder Gangrel was so hell bent on Emmeryn's demise, she was the next best person, as disgusting as the thought was.

When Cordelia stood back up to finish her nightly rituals, Anali pulled her blanket back and tucked herself in. She rolled over in her cot as the door to their room opened. Anali tried to drown out the chatter as she dozed off into sleep.

I grip onto the railing as I gag. I can feel my hair is pulled back by someone's hand, as another hand rubs my back. Tears pool into the corners of my eyes as a chunky, fowl substance spews out of my mouth. Thankfully, it lands into the sea, creating a trail as we sail by. "ARE WE THERE YET?!" I yell, sobbing as I did so.

"Almost," I hear Chrom say as I sink to my knees. "I think."

I let out a whiny sob as I lean against the wooden frame. Why the hell did this man want to meet us on an isle? It was no secret that I had no sea legs whatsoever. But it usually didn't get _this_ bad. Last time I got this sick while sailing was when I was-

"Milord, milady," Frederick says from behind us. "I've just received news that we'll be arriving shortly-"

"Oh, thank the gods!" I breathe out.

"They should be waiting for us as soon as we dock."

"Thank you, Frederick," Chrom says with a brief nod. "However, I think we'll need to wait a moment before we discuss anything with him."

I whimper as my stomach gurgles again. I'm not sure if waiting is a good thing or not. This was the first time we were meeting him, and I want to make a good first impression. Stalling twenty minutes because I needed to get over my seasickness did not strike me as anything good.

Mercifully we docked within fifteen minutes. I cling onto Chrom as we wait for the okay to get off this hell vessel and back onto solid ground. I risk looking forward at the small group who wait for us. Two knights stand on either side of the tall, well-endued woman, and the very tall, sickly skinned man. By brow knits and I lift my head. I've seen this man before. I'm sure of it. It was eight or nine years ago, but I'm sure it's him.

"Chrom!" I hiss out. "It's him! The one who-"

It was the chaos around her that woke Anali the morning of the coronation. The girl scurried around the Garrison asking for help with their hair, or their dress. Anali tried to stay as far out of the way as possible. Her dress was easy enough to slip in and out of, and she just figured on wearing her hair as is, Maribelle may have her head for it, but she would live.

Cordelia worked vigilantly on her hair, cursing to herself for keeping it so long. "Do you need help?" Anali asked. "I'm all ready so…"

"Thanks," Cordelia said breathlessly. She handed the brush to Anali as she approached her. "I'm really nervous… and excited. The two emotions are kind of conflicting, really."

"Why so nervous?" asked Anali.

"Because it's Prince Chrom's coronation. And he personally invited us. I don't want to insult him by looking so under dress."

"Uh, Cordelia, we could all arrive wearing nothing but potato sacks, and Chrom wouldn't care so long as we're there for him."

"I-I couldn't even begin to think of doing such a thing!" Cordelia said through her blush. "B-Besides, the Prince has earned our very best today, don't you think?"

Anali's eyes wandered to the corner as she took the moment to think about it. Yes, Cordelia had a point, after everything they've all been through, it was Chrom who lead them. All of that was before he became the Exalt, imagine what he was capable of with the reigns in hand. "I suppose your right," Anali said running the brush through Cordelia's hair. "He has earned it, but he's not exactly tending sheep anymore."

"He can handle it," Cordelia said with her head held high. "He has everything a good leader should. Calm and collected, the grace and intellect… charming…"

Anali burst out laughing before she could stop herself. She shouldn't laugh, she knew that, but who the heck was Cordelia _talking_ about? Certainly not the man who blunders into the women's bathing tent, or accidentally insults a women while trying to compliment them. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Anali said wiping her eyes. "I just… would not use those words to describe Chrom."

Cordelia furrowed her brow. How else was she supposed to describe Prince Chrom? Surely he was all of that and more. How could Anali do that? Speak about the Prince, the _Exalt_, so casually like he was anyone else in the Shepherds, not someone of the royal line. Cordelia could never do something like that, it was so improper. But wasn't she in a similar boat as Anali as far as social statuses went? Cordelia was the child of a couple of villagers and was only where she was now because Sumia's father got her a good recommendation. Anali didn't even have that, from the sounds of it she was just in the right place at the right time.

As much as Cordelia hated the wording, Anali was probably worse off than Cordelia. Anali had no known family, and would have been doing whatever she could to keep herself alive had Prince Chrom not found her. And, for that matter, she was Plegian. A Plegian with no history.

The tactician styled Cordelia's hair into a side bun as per Cordelia's instruction. Immediately, Cordelia forced Anali into the chair, she talked her into at least having her hair up into a half-updo. In the end, Anali was surprised to find that she actually liked how it looked. Cordelia had tied the outter layer of Anali's hair into a messy bun, while she left the inner layer hanging freely. "You're going to have to show me how you did that," Anali said, admiring her reflection.

"I've got a bit of free time in my schedule tomorrow," Cordelia said beaming. "I'm sure I can squeeze you in."

Come three that afternoon, the Shepherds filled in several seats in the throne room. The castle had been cleaned to the point of shining, and decorated with blues, whites, and gold. The Archbishop stood in front of the throne, waiting for the ceremony to begin. Anali had spotted Libra speaking to him earlier, she supposed it wasn't surprising. Sandwiched between Olivia and Elaine, Anali wrung her gloved hands together, anxious and wanting to do _something _with her hands.

She scanned the crowd. Outside of the Shepherds it was mostly the Ylisse's nobles, and a few trusted allies in the church, and, oh hey, Khan Flavia and KhanBasilio. In hindsight it should not have surprised Anali. And yet it did, for whatever reason.

Anali almost jumped out of her skin when the choir began to sing in a dead language. The silence fell upon the crowd as they rose to their feet. Anali suppressed a smile as proof of things remaining the same despite the changes walked by her. Chrom's clothing bore some resemblance to his usual onesie, the blue fabric was darker, and his cape was longer. Surprisingly Chrom wore _tw_o sleeves for the occasion. He had on a shining breastplate, gauntlets, couters and a couple of greaves on his shins. And, of course, the one pauldron on his left shoulder. His usual asymmetrical fashion still managed to sneak in. The Falchion remained at his side, and his hair remained in its usual style.

Meeting with the Archbishop, Chrom lowered himself to one knee, his right arm crossed over his chest, and head lowered. "Sire," the Archbishop spoke, his voice strong and commanding. "Is it your will now to take the oath before Naga and the people of Ylisse?"

Anali felt her chest swell as Chrom answered, "That is my will."

"Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the land and the people of Ylisse, according to the law and customs?"

"I solemnly promise so to do."

The Archbishop turned his back to the crowd for a moment, and turned back around just as quickly. He carried a sort of golden diadem in his hands. It was a thin circlet that met in the back arched in the back, creating a halo. The fact that it greatly resembled Emmeryn's suggested to Anali that it was tradition for the Exalt. "Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the will of Naga," the Archbishop continued. "Will you maintain the peace and prosperity of Ylisse? Will you preserve the doctrine, worship, discipline, and govern thereof the laws establish in Ylisse?"

"All this," Chrom said firmly. "I promise to do."

The Archbishop stood right in front of Chrom, and secured the circlet around his head. "Please rise," said the Archbishop. Obediently, Chrom stood up, and turned around to face the crowd. "Presenting, His Majesty, Exalt Chrom Ylisse."

* * *

Anali decided that the banquet to follow the coronation was a little stuffy for her likening. But the food was to die for. Oh, there was bear meat, but the pastries… gods. She got into a little staring contest with Donnel over the last horn pastry, a pastry with cream filling, until one of the servants brought out a fresh batch. They had themselves a good laugh over it.

Donnel impressed Anali with how well he cleaned up, sure he went to Chrom's birthday ball, but he still wore his tin pot helmet, and simply wore a nice shirt and slacks. Today he actually tried to put in a great effort to look good. He tried, and failed, to slick his hair back, but it proved to be untamable. He even wore a suit jacket. And then there was Panne, who just brushed her hair and fur, a subtle difference that probably spoke louder than her words did.

Biting into her pastry horn Anali felt a delightful chill going up and down her spine. Gods, this was wonderful. Swallowing, she thought it was about to go down the wrong tube when Chrom bumped into her. "Oh, I'm sorry," Chrom said quickly, taking her by the hand even though Anali was at no risk of stumbling. "It's a bit crowded in here."

"I suppose it is," Anali said with a smile.

Continuing through the banquet hall, Chrom held onto Anali's hand for as long as he could until they were out of arms length. She looked down at her hand, Chrom had managed to slip her a note. Stuffing the rest of her pastry horn into her mouth Anali found herself a secluded spot, and unfolded the tiny bit of parchment.

_Outside  
Maple grove  
Five minutes_

Anali hiked up the hem of her dress, and searched for the first door. It was still early in the evening, the sun still lingered in the horizon. The late summer air was cool against Anali's exposed shoulders, and refreshing after being inside the banquet hall for a while. The maple grove was by the castle wall, the first line of defense against potential enemies. Upon finding the tree Anali stepped out of her shoes. Why did fancy-shmancy shoes have to be so tight around the toes?

She waited a few moments, and no sign of Chrom. A sly smile played upon her lips as she peered around the tree. If she was right, this was the very same tree that covered the cleft Chrom bashed in. Anali covered her mouth, muffling her laughter. The cleft was easily large enough for a child, or a young woman her size to squeeze in and out of. It must have been so easy for Marth to get through. "It was an accident," she heard Chrom said. Turning around, Anali spotted him walking up to her. "I was trying to teach Vaike and Sully something and overshot. It was one of the few times Emmeryn really lost her temper."

"Oh jeez," Anali laughed. Clearing her throat she walked up to Chrom. "Was there something you wanted to talk about? Private setting and all?"

"I just wanted to see you," Chrom said, taking her into his arms. Anali wrapped her arms around him, but it wasn't like the hugs they shared up until now. His damned breastplate made it feel cold and uncomfortable. "You must admit there is something about all this secrecy, it's kind of fun."

"Even though this is the first time we've had to do this sort of thing," Anali said. She took his hand and rested her cheek into his palm. "And if we're caught? I'm sure Frederick would fly off the handle when he sees the Exalt and his tactician like this."

"All part of the fun."

Anali smiled. She had one hand over his as she kept it cradled against her cheek while her opposite hand was draped over his wrist. "I've been thinking…" her voice trailed off.

"Oh boy," Chrom breathed out. "Should I be worried?"

"I'm serious. Chrom, will everyone be okay with… us? Not only am I Plegian, but I'm probably the child of some nomad or something. Hardly someone the Exalt should be marrying."

Exhaling, Chrom ran his free hand through her hair. "My mother was hardly someone the Exalt should have married," he told her. "She was a horse doctor before she married Calhoun. Well, an _assistant_, but it's the same idea. I've been told that Calhoun looked for any excuse to get mother to come see his stallion just so he could see her."

Anali's eyes met with Chrom's. This was news to her. So, in a way Anali wasn't _that_ different from Queen Silvia. Honestly, it was a little surprising given what she knew about Calhoun, which was admittedly very little. "And the _other_ issue?" Anali asked.

Chrom pressed his free hand against the back of her neck and guided her closer to him, then Chrom kissed her on her hairline. "That's a part of the reason why I want you to stay when I tour the duchies," he said. "Give you time with the people, and time to show the council you're not a threat without my bias."

"That's almost clever." Anali's smile died as another thought dawned on her. "One more thing… What will getting married mean for me afterwards? Will I not be your tactician anymore?"

"I don't see why not. I'm still leading the Shepherds in spite of today."

She smiled slightly and gazed at his gold halo circlet. "You're not going to be wearing that all the time now, are you?" she asked playfully.

"Gods no," Chrom said through a snort. "It feels so awkward in the back."

Anali had to wonder if that was why Emmeryn wore her hair in front of her. Was it enough to serve as a counterbalance?

Gripping her chin, Chrom leaned forward. Anali, thinking he was about to kiss her, closed her eyes and waited. She felt goosebumps cover her body as she felt something wet and warm drag across the corner of her mouth. Snapping her eyes open, she blushed when she saw Chrom straighten himself up with a triumphant smirk on his face.

She wasn't sure who she was angrier at, herself for not making sure her face was clean of the pastry horn, or Chrom for doing such a thing. They could have been caught for Naga's sake! She smacked Chrom on the shoulder, and he chuckled all the while. "Don't laugh!" Anali scolded, smacking his arm again. "We could've been caught! We're supposed to be setting an example!"

Chrom held his sides, still laughing after each swat from Anali.

* * *

**Authors Note: **In some ways this chapter really felt like a filler, but on the other hand we do learn more about Chrom and Lissa's parents. I always believed that what ever happened to them it was an accident, or unexpected, which was part of why Gangrel was still so furious even though fifteen years had passed. The man responsible for Plegia's suffering was dead, and Plegia had nothing to do with it, unable to answer for his crimes, so Emmeryn was the next best thing.

I guess this chapter also served to confirm that; no, Emmeryn did not survive the fall. I did toy with the idea for a while, but a little nagging voice in my head kept shouting, _'Come _on_! Who could survive that!' _or something like that. So not only did Emmeryn die, her body was left disfigured from it. I did debate on whether or not the Plegian's who rescued her body would have cremated her because they had no way of knowing when they could get her back to Ylisstol. But going from a personal experience I decided against it for the time they had. Had it been longer than three weeks, probably.

Now, as far as this story is concerned, Chrom will be taking the title of Exalt. I get why they waited until the end of the game for that, but the reason for it in-game didn't make much sense to me. Exalt was never an Emmeryn-specific title, if it was I'd be more understanding, but it's a title that's been passed down from one generation to another for a thousand years. And yes, Chrom was supposed to be wearing his Great Lord look for the coronation.

And the lines Anali recites for Emmeryn is from _'The Old Astronomer to His Pupil,'_ by Sarah Williams. I don't know what it is, but those lines really make me think of Emm, Lucina, and in the context of the story, another character.

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Chapter Seventeen  
Blood of the Covenant**

Tharja supposed she could understand the reasoning behind the Exalt's departure. The war against their countries did leave many homeless and left for a lot of reconstruction. War was hell or something, and it wasn't like her people were making things easy for Ylisse before all hell broke loose. What she _didn't_ get was why she couldn't stay in Ylisstol with Anali.

Tharja was hardly one for all that romantic bullcrap, but even she could admit that there was something special about Anali. Anali's inner darkness was beautiful in that was _powerful_, powerful and vast. And yet Anali never swayed. She remained level-headed, and, well… nice. It was something of a contradiction, Tharja could think of plenty of uses with a darkness like that, but for Anali, it was like she had no idea of what she had. It was maddening… and very exciting.

The last thing Tharja would ever dream of was making Anali sad or get her upset. And she expected _everyone else _to do the same. Which was why Tharja was particularly miffed that the bastard who made Anali upset that one time got away with it scot free! Not only could Tharja not coax a name out of her, but Anali was happier than ever these days. What a waste of a perfectly good boil hex!

Tharja lived a pretty normal life in Yama. Her parents were still together, she even had a couple of younger brothers, it was a fairly boring life. Tharja was gifted with magic, as her family generally was, and had the ambition to experiment and create her own hexes. Which was how she ended up as one of Gangrel's Dark Mages. She was always something of a lone wolf, she preferred the company of a desk, a book, and her work.

And then came Gangrel's little war. Tharja hardly had any memories of Calhoun's campaign against Plegia and it never effected her personally. She hadn't lost anyone then, her father was still alive and well, and the Farhi family lived relatively comfortably. The Ylissean's never did anything to her, Exalt Emmeryn did nothing to her personally. What was the point in fighting them? And then Anali stumbled into her life and it was practically love at first sight. She had to take Anali up on her offer, and was thrilled when Chrom agreed.

Tharja's time in the Shepherds was probably the most social thing she had ever done. She had been allowed to use a spare room as a workshop, and had that one dolt of a boy who would probably go to the bottom of the sea to get the ingredients she needed. The food was fantastic and she had a wealth of information at her fingertips. And, of course, she got to work with Anali.

However, Tharja was beyond pissed when she learned that Anali would be remaining in Ylisstol during Chrom's little cross country tour. The one with the brilliant mind who saved their sorry hides on more than one occasion was staying behind to watch the little princess. What a waste of her talents!

Anali had seen them off that morning and gave Chrom a book of strategies she devised for the occasion they could use if they came across trouble. And then the two of them had a brief conversation in low, hushed tones. Tharja did not like that in the slightest. What, did they have something to hide? She saw as they held hands for a moment before Chrom mounted his horse. Immediately after Frederick gave the word to move.

If there was one thing Tharja could not stand about Anali, it was the fact that she liked to be around people. If she wasn't studying tactics she was trying to learn how to battle on horseback with Sully and Sumia. Sword fighting with Stahl, Kellam, and Vaike, working on magic with Ricken, eating meats with Frederick, or testing strategies with Virion. Tharja saw her Anali annoying the hell out of Lon'qu, working on her hair with Cordelia, or just talking with the Exalt. It was infuriating! How was Tharja supposed to get Anali to notice her affection if she was too busy fooling around with everyone else?!

Tharja was just as skilled at magic as that little boy was. She could do Anali's hair just as well as Cordelia. Maybe. Possibly. And she could help Anali work on strategies. Possibly. Maybe.

That evening, camp was set up a few miles outside their first stop. The most trouble they had was boredom and long hours. She put up the tent and did her chores begrudgingly. Her time of recollection that day made her realize that she should probably write to her family. Tharja may as well had just disappeared when she switched sides. So, Tharja wrote a brief note to her parents. She was alive, healthy, broadening her horizons, that sort of thing. Tharja wanted to know how they were doing, if her brother's were okay, and how they were taking everything.

Tharja did her best to get around camp without being spotted. If she remembered correctly, the Shepherds started to bring messenger hawks with them so they wouldn't have to wait for days on end to get messages to families or receive important messages. What luck for her. Now if only Tharja could remember where they were being kept. "Looking for something?" she heard.

The shout that came out of Tharja's lips was a rarity. Tharja was rarely someone that was creeped up upon. _She_ was the creeper. She whipped around to find Kellam, the soldier with the uncanny ability to just blend into the background. "The last person who snuck up on me like that isn't a person anymore," Tharja grumbled out. "How do you stay so quiet? Is it a spell of some kind?"

"Um… no…" Kellam replied. "Not that I know of, anyway."

"Right. Well, nice talking to you, quiet man. Now if you excuse me, I have a letter to mail."

"Oh. I was just on my way to have a letter mailed, too. Can I give you a hand?"

"I know how to mail a letter!" snapped Tharja. "I just hope the hawks are still able to go to Plegia."

Kellam thought for a moment. If it was by any means other than messenger hawk there probably would have been a bit of trouble. He imagined that Plegia's government was in a bit of chaos, their king was dead and the people were on the brink of revolution. "I don't see why not," he replied. "Why Plegia, though? Is that where your family lives?"

Tharja returned the question with a hard glare. It should have been pretty damn obvious that she was Plegian born and bread. Where else could she be from with a name like Tharja? "Right, sorry," Kellam said quickly. "In that case, I suppose you're worried about them, huh? I worry about my family a lot."

"I come from a family of powerful mages," Tharja told him matter-of-factly. She kept her eyes hidden under her bangs as she spoke, trying not to expose herself too much. "They can usually take care of themselves. But after everything that's happened… Well, who knows?"

"Oh, wow!" Kellam gasped. "A family of spell casters? I'll bet they're safe as houses!"

The Dark Mage forced back the small smile that threatened to come out. Even she needed a little reassurance.

Cordelia absently ran her hand down her Pegasus' muzzle as she watched the setting sun. It was such a beautiful view, the way the sun could be seen between the mountains and the rosy sky. Watching such a setting, Cordelia's fantasies got away with her. "If only we could be alone together… just the two of us…" she said outloud. She brought one hand to her face as she scolded herself, "I told myself I'd stop dreaming about him…"

"Dreaming about who?"

She whipped around to find Chrom approaching her. Cordelia could have sworn her hair was beginning to stand up on end. "Milord! D-Did I say dreaming?" she asked then tried to laugh it all off, "I don't think I did! No, d-definitely not!"

"Huh," Chrom rubbed the back of his neck. "Guess I must have misheard. Is something wrong? You seem unusually… tense."

"Tense?" Cordelia said with her voice raising an octave. "M-Me? N-No, not at all! No tension here! See?"

To prove her point, she reached out to grab a brush and began using it on her Pegasus. Absently. "Eh… if you say so…" Chrom replied with a slight tilt of his head. Why did it always seemed like Cordelia was hiding something whenever he tried to talk to her? Olivia was, by her own admission, a shy person, not Cordelia. She had no problem starting a conversation with anyone, everyone but him. "Are you feeling okay? You're looking a little red in the face."

"Fine!" Cordelia said all too quickly for her liking. She brought a hand to her face and pushed her bangs back. "I-I mean it's been a bit warm late…lately. B-But we're in the middle of summer…"

As thrilled as Cordelia was at the moment, she was beginning to wish the Exalt would just turn around and walk away. With her pulse running this fast and her face so flushed she was struggling to breath. Gods, how mortifying, this was so unlike her. And she was supposed to be keeping the Exalt safe! "Are you sure you're okay?" Chrom asked, bringing a hand to her forehead. "You sound like you can hardly breathe!"

"YES!" She took a step back with her hand thrown out in front of her. Cordelia panted for a moment, then looked up at Chrom with wide eyes and a broad smile. "I am feeling a bit warm, but it's nothing to do with the weather. This… this heat is from my soul! I'm overcome with emotion and drowning with the up most joy! To be blessed with a rare opportunity to speak with the Exalt himself… Why, it's almost more excitement than my poor heart can stand!"

"Uh…?"

Cordelia clasped her hands over her mouth. What did she just say? _Out loud? _Gods, what was wrong with her? "I'm sorry, I was babbling, wasn't I?" she asked. "Oh, gods this is just mortifying!"

"'Rare opportunity?'" Chrom questioned with his arms crossed over his face, but he wasn't angry. Just confused. "Cordelia, I _do_ try to talk to the troops whenever I can, you know. And you really don't need to be so formal."

"Oh, no!" she gasped. "That's not what I - I mean, I wasn't criticizing you! You're a wonderful leader, taking your time to talk to your people, and you lead the army which such charisma and grace."

"Heh, I really wouldn't go that far," Chrom said trying to hide his smile. If 'charisma' was a foreign word for 'winging it' then yes, yes he was. And grace? Clearly Cordelia's never seen him trip over a pebble, or blunder into a woman while she's bathing.

"I-I'm mean, I just wish we could speak more often, and then…" Cordelia blurted out. Her mind wandered to one of her many daydreams. One where the Exalt would take her into his arms after she explained herself, then ask her to be his. "I'm doing it again! These silly fantasies have got to stop!"

Chrom ran a hand through his hair. This conversation, something he just decided would be something friendly between the two, was leaving him rather drained. He really didn't know all that much about Cordelia, and had hoped to remedy that. "I'm becoming increasingly confused by this conversation…" he said through a sigh.

"I'm so sorry, milord," Cordelia said quickly. She swayed slightly. "I really don't know what's come over me… I-I'm… I'm feeling a little light headed…"

"Why didn't you say so earlier?!" Chrom scolded. He offered a hand out to her, "Do you think you can walk? Take my arm, I'll help you into the Dining tent. You should probably get a bit of water too."

"Y-Your _arm_? Cordelia said with a brightening smile. "You want little old me to… to touch?!"

Oh gods this was really happening, wasn't it? Cordelia wasn't dreaming, the Exalt really wanted her to take his arm. Now _this_ was a rare opportunity. She could have died right now. "Cordelia, don't close your eyes!" she heard Chrom's voice call to her. "If you see a light, don't go near it! Stay with me!"

Of course she would. There was no way Cordelia would miss this for anything. This was going to be one of her precious memories with the Exalt. Oh, gods just the thought of it made her want to… want to…

Liam nearly threw his music to the ground when he saw the red head go down. Chrom was down on one knee, repeatedly asking Cordelia what was wrong, if she was all right, but she was out like a light. "Here," Liam said, getting onto one knee with his back to the pair. "I know where her tent is, you get her water."

"How much of that did you see?" Chrom asked, placing Cordelia's fallen form onto Liam's back.

"Enough," Liam said with a slight nod of the head. He was supposed to be on his way for a harp lesson with Stahl, but it looked like that would have to wait.

"Do you know what that was all about?"

"None," Liam lied.

But, he actually did. Cordelia was as obvious as they came, and Chrom was as oblivious as they came. Of course, to be fair, it was a bit obvious that Chrom had someone in his heart at the moment, and Liam was pretty sure he knew who. In turn, poor Cordelia seemed to be oblivious, whether she realized it or not.

Hooking his arms through her knees, Liam carried Cordelia into her tent, and lowered her into her bunk. The smile on Cordelia's face had long died, now she looked like she could have just been sleeping. The flap of the tent opened, and Chrom hurried in with a water skin in hand. "Any change?" asked Chrom. He placed the skin down beside her cot. "I don't understand what happened, she just…"

"I've heard that redheads react to the sun differently than anyone else of different hair color," Liam said with a shrug. "That their more sensitive to it. She should probably carry a bit of water with her when we head out again tomorrow."

"I suppose…" The Exalt sighed "I want to make sure she's all right, but…"

"I'll stick around," Liam said taking a seat in one of the empty cots. "Go, I've got things under control here."

The Exalt flashed Liam a smile. "Thank you."

After Chrom left, Liam leaned back in the cot and waited in silence. Cordelia woke up minutes later; Liam reached out for the water skin and handed it to Cordelia. "What happened?" she asked.

"You fainted, then Chrom brought you to your tent," Liam replied, lying through his teeth. It may have been a cruel lie, but he figured it was something Cordelia could appreciate to a point. At least until reality slapped her across the face.

"Oh, gods!" Cordelia hid her face into her hands. "How mortifying! I can't believe I did… in front of the Exalt!"

"Yeah, you mind telling me what the hell that was about?" Liam asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "And don't even think of bullshitting me."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cordelia said, taking a swig from the water skin. She looked away from Liam, willing him to drop the subject.

The bard tossed one hand up and made is way to the door with a, "Fine!" He pulled the flap apart, pausing to look over his shoulder at her. "Keep something in mind, though. If you want something, you do what you can to get it before you loose your chance completely."

When Liam left, Cordelia grasped the neck of the water skin. She wanted to skewer Liam with her lance. Like she didn't know that already. It just wouldn't work out, they were on two different sides of a river that could never be crossed. He would end up with some princess or noble girl, not with her.

* * *

I had never seen Tharja look so old, even though we're around the same age. It's obvious that she hasn't been taking care of herself. Her hair is matted up, her clothes are a mess, her face carries a permanent scowl, and her eyes appear to be sunken in. I don't know if I should chastise myself for doubting her love for him, or to chastise Tharja for not taking care of the little girl behind her. Poor thing looks so frightened.

"Tharja, this is enough," I tell her firmly. "I get it, its hard. It's going to be hard on your own, but you can't just use her like your personal guinea pig."

I feel the glare Tharja has behind her bangs. "Are _you_ trying to tell _me_ how to raise my daughter?" she asks coldly. "That's a laugh with that ivory tower of yours."

"I'm telling you that if you don't clean up your attitude we're going to have to take her away," I tell her.

"Over my dead body!" Tharja snaps. I see the flash of anger in her eyes. Her hands slam onto the table between us. "You'll have to pry her from my cold dead carcass before you take her away form me!"

"Then wise up!" I yell at her in response. "If you want to be her mother so bad, then start _acting_ like one! I get it, Tharja, I'm not stupid. You miss him, you want him back, but that doesn't excuse your behavior lately. The Tharja I first met would never-"

"Clearly the Tharja you first met isn't here anymore," she growled. "She's gone. Now, did you come here for a reason, or just to criticize me? We were in the middle of another experiment before you showed up."

Sighing, I look over at the little girl behind Tharja. She's been watching our conversation while trying to make herself as small as possible. When Tharja lost her temper at me the little girl visibly flinched. "Chrom and I are meeting with the King of Plegia," I explain. "The problem is we don't trust him. We've invited him to meet us many times before, yet he's always turned us down. But now, when we need the soldiers, he agrees to meet us. I think he has a political trap in store for us, and we want to be ready if he starts to become hostile."

"And why should I help you?"

"Because you're skilled Tharja," I reply. I'm getting increasingly frustrated, this wasn't Tharja. The Tharja I knew would have threatened to curse anyone who criticized her. The Tharja of the past would have done more than just lash out with her tongue.

"I'll think about it," Tharja replies bitterly.

"AH-NAL-LEE!" Nowi shouted in a sing-song tone as she pounded the door with her fist. "Time to get up!"

Anali woke up to find herself in an empty, four person room, and the light filtering through her window. She never realized how lonely the rooms were with just one person in them. Groaning, Anali stood up and stumbled slightly, her bitten leg didn't hurt as much as it used to, but it always felt so stiff after she was off it for a while. She limped to the door and poked her head out; she was met with Nowi's smiling face. "Good morning!" the Manakete beamed. "You're heading into town again, aren't you?"

"Y-Yeah," Anali said rubbing her eyes. She was somewhere between groggy, and confused. "Checking on the restoration's with Lissa…" she said through a yawn.

"Can I come, too?" asked Nowi.

That was enough to wake up Anali. "You sure? It's going to be pretty boring."

"I'll be good!" Nowi said, playing with her fingers. "Pleeeeeeease!"

"Fine, I guess it couldn't hurt. But don't say I didn't warn you."

Nowi threw her hands into the air in a gesture of victory. Sighing, Anali inched back into her room to prepare herself for the day. She had to check the progression on restoration, things were moving at a steady pace, and if they were lucky they should be finished before the month was out. It was still summer, but fall would be fast approaching, then it would seem like winter was right on top of them.

That afternoon Anali would spend some time training Lissa. She never quite imagined herself to be a teacher, but Lissa asked, and Anali agreed. She dressed herself and styled her hair the way Cordelia showed her. It was a half-updo with an outer layer of hair pulled up into a loose messy bun while the inner layer hung freely. Anali add her own little flare to the look, to thin tendrils of hair that hung over her shoulders. They were tied off a few inches up with dark bands.

Lissa and Nowi were waiting for Anali in the stables, the blonde shot Anali a questioning look, then gestured to Nowi. Anali simply replied with a slight wave of the hand. She mounted one of the horses, and helped Nowi on behind her. It dawned on Anali, now that she was fully awake, that Nowi wanted to go with them because she liked to be around people. While Anali did not know the exact lifespan of a Manakete, she knew that Nowi was going to outlive everyone here. She probably already had several friends who passed away by now.

Some families had been able to return to their homes, with new furniture, and clothing provided by neighboring villages and Regna Ferox. The recovered injured started working in the fields to help care for the crops, and Anna's sisters were helping store owners replenish their stocks. Of course in that case it wasn't for free, but paid in part by the royals.

"Wow, this is really looking better!" Nowi exclaimed. "It must've taken ages to fix!"

"Well, it's nothing short of a joint effort," said Anali.

"Lady Anali!" Benny the blacksmith called, haling the trio over. The blacksmith was nothing short of an unstoppable force during the siege, and took charge amongst the people in the royals absence. Anali heard stories about Benny barreling into burning homes, beating Plegian soldiers senseless, then carrying civilians to safety. "Oh, and Princess Lissa."

"Benny," Anali greeted as she lowered herself down off the horse. "No problems?"

"Had to break up a couple'a fights," Benny explained through a sigh. "Heat's getting to some of us, tempers rise with the weather."

"I'd 'ev through you of all people would be used to it," said Lissa. "Aren't blacksmiths supposed to work in front of hot forges for hours on end?"

"Aye, we do. But there's a difference between the heat of the fire, and the heat of summer."

Anali's brow arched at this. What was the difference? Wasn't the heat of a fire supposed to be hotter to melt metal? "Well, it that happens again, just separate them, give them a bit of water, let them simmer down for a bit, then have them work separately," she said. "How's the church been?"

"Excellent. We should have the roof finished by the end of the week, and we can work on the interior."

People were finally able to return to their homes as more and more buildings were repaired and rebuilt. There should be some form of normality soon enough. The crops were in danger of dying out prematurely due to neglect, the local farmers were either injured, or pitching in with the restoration. The damage was reversible now that those still recuperating were able to pitch in. If things kept up at this rate, everyone should be able to get through the winter as though nothing happened.

"Oh, good, really great news to hear," Lissa said with a handover her chest. "Hopefully the other towns in the realm didn't have it as bad."

"I'm sure if nothing else, they've been pillaged by the run-of-the-mill bandit," Benny assured her.

The two continued with their conversation when Anali realized Nowi wasn't by the horses. She looked around to find their Manakete friend was in the corner playing with a couple of children who were kicking around an old wicker ball. The children were worse for wear, dirt caked their skin, their clothes were old and falling apart. An older girl watched the group as she worked on her basket weaving, she looked more or less the same as the children Nowi was playing with. But she also looked far too young to be having children.

"And, the good news is that my sisters have more than enough merchandise to sell them," Anna said beaming. Anali nearly jumped out of her skin, never hearing _their_ Anna approaching.

"But why do they have to sell it?" Lissa asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Haven't they all gone through enough?"

"Haven't you heard the saying 'you have to spend money to make money?'" Anna asked.

"Uh… not all of your customers are shopkeepers," Anali pointed out.

"My point still stands," Anna said smugly.

Sighing, Anali allowed her eyes to travel to the side. The next couple of hours were spent over looking the various stations of reconstruction. Then they returned to the castle by noon, after eating Anali watched while Lissa tossed her hand forward, the orange-yellow ruins appeared around her hand. Immediately Lissa snapped the appendage back and the fire shot in several places at once. The girls scurried back to Nowi, who was sitting in the grass to watch.

The fire began to crackle. It turned from it's warm colors to icy shades of blue, then the flames blinked out of existence. "I'm pretty sure that's not supposed to happen," Lissa said getting discouraged. "Either something like _that_ happens, or I end up burning my hands."

"Hey, it's too early to turn in the towel," said Anali. She snatched the Fire tome then tossed it over her shoulder. "Hey, Nowi, can you toss me a Wind tome?"

Nowi got onto her knees and reached out for the small stack of tomes beside her. Each one the basic in their element. "You mean this one?" she asked, holding up a blue-green book.

"That's the one!"

The Manakete tossed the book to Anali, who tossed it back to Lissa. "Give this a try," she suggested. "It might be easier to use than Fire or Thunder."

Lissa fumbled in catching her the tome, nearly dropping it twice in the process. With it firm in her hands, she looked down at the cover. "You sure?" she asked.

"Yeah," Anali nodded. "Wind's a little difficult to control sometimes, but it won't burn the caster like Fire or Thunder. Plus you get the bonus of being able to take out flying mounds."

"Yeah, give it a try!" Nowi said, holding herself up on her knees. "Go Lissa! Go Lissa!"

With a sudden burst of confidence, Lissa opened the tome and tossed her hand forward. Green ruins circled around the tip of her hand, a gust of wind cycloned in front of her. "Whoo!" cheered Nowi.

"How did that feel?" Anali asked.

"Much better!" Lissa beamed turning to face the two. "It was like-like…"

"Like you had a bit of control this time?"

"Exactly! I knew I was right to have you as a teacher!" Lissa exclaimed as she threw her arms around Anali's neck.

"Well, it's a learning experience for me too," Anali pointed out. "Not really sure how to teach. All I did was just find the element for you."

"But you're doing just fine. Let's keep going, I wanna be ready for our next march!"

"All right, all right, let's see if you can hit a few targets."

"Anali, wait!" Nowi said, getting onto her feet. "I think there's something in your hair."

She hurried up to Anali and the tactician felt a tug at her hair. She winced. "Got it," Nowi said beaming. "It's just a beetle."

Anali looked over her shoulder to see the beetle squirming between Nowi's thumb and forefinger. Screaming, Anali shoved Lissa in front of her between herself and Nowi. "Hey, hey!" Lissa shouted in protest.

"Get it away from me!" Anali shrieked. With her eyes closed she shook her head like mad.

"Get _me_ away from it!" shouted Lissa.

"That was in my hair?! That was in my hair!"

Nowi stood, confused, as the girls struggled against each other. Lissa to get herself away from the beetle, and Anali trying to put as much distance between her and the insect as possible. It was just a little beetle, what was so frightening about it?

* * *

On their third day on the road, they came across a pack of Risen. Something that would put them behind schedule as Frederick kindly pointed out. They followed one of the strategies Anali gave them, and then set up camp when the problem was taken care of. Maribelle hurried across the camp, she tried to remember where his tent was. She was pretty sure he bunked with Lon'qu, Libra, and Gaius.

Finding the tent she spotted Gaius exiting once, Maribelle tore the flaps open. "Oh, Ricken, dear," she breathed out as she hurried inside. "Let me see your leg."

"Wh-What?" Ricken stuttered out. "Why would you want to-"

He was cut off when Maribelle shoved him onto his cot and pushed up the skirt of his robes. "He-Hey!" the boy exclaimed, his face flushed scarlet.

"Oh hush," Maribelle chided. She gasped at the sight of blood seeping down his leg and into his boot. "Heavens, look at this wounds! Small wonder you're gimping about like the village drunk!" She looked up at him with a glare in her eyes. "Why didn't you say something about this?"

"It's nothing," Ricken argued with his hands out in front of him. "Just… just a flesh wound."

He wasn't sure how Maribelle knew about it, Ricken thought he hid it pretty well. Unless she saw it. While dodging an attack Ricken took the edge of a blade to the side of his leg. Hiding the wound was excruciating, but he thought he could take care of it on his own. Maribelle must have witnessed it firsthand.

The blonde girl placed her hand against the wound and held it up. Ricken was unsure of what was shocking, the fact that she touched his leg like that, or the fact that Maribelle _willingly _soiled her glove. "This is hardly a 'flesh wound!'" she snapped as she stood up. Maribelle crossed her arms over her chest. "What if it were to get infected? Hmm? What then? You must stop taking unnecessary risks!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ricken sapped back.

"Putting someone so young in the line of fire is the worst kind of cowardice," Maribelle ranted, more to herself than Ricken. "Yes, you saved me that one day, but you could have died a hundred times along the way, and many more times after! Well, no more! I shall have to demand Chrom find a way to spare you from further combat."

Sighing again, Maribelle crossed her arms over her chest. "I should have done this sooner, my dear boy. I do hope you can forgive my-"

"Don't you dare!" Ricken snapped, rising to his feet. "And don't call me a boy, I'm not much younger than you! I can handle myself in a fight, Maribelle. You should know that better than anyone."

"Now see here!" Maribelle snapped back. "No one doubts your abilities, least of all me. But I would be devastated beyond comfort if anything happened to you."

"But I know how to fight. Don't ask me to sit by while my friends, my family and my country are in danger if I can do something."

Maribelle's brow rose slightly as she stared at Ricken. Somehow, when she wasn't paying attention, it seemed like Ricken had grown up a little. He may even finally be hitting a growth spurt soon. Even his resolve had matured a bit. Before Ricken left the garrison to prove a point, now he wanted to do all he could to help the cause. Ricken was well on his way to becoming a fine young man. "I suppose if you're truly certain," Maribelle sighed as she lowered her hands. "It is not my place to stop you."

The young mage smiled. "Thank you."

"But, I only ask you don't stop me from striving to keep you safe," Maribelle said firmly. She poked him in his chest as she continued, "_Tell me_ when you're hurt Ricken! Let me use my gifts for you as well. You'll keep no one safe by playing the stoic."

He gulped. "Yes ma'am."

"Elaine, I'd be more than happy to take that, if you need," Libra offered.

"No thank you," the young Cleric said, looking over the crates in her hands. "I've got it, it's my job tonight after all."

Just about everyone had kitchen duty at one point or another. Elaine was no exception. And with the squirrels Donnel caught that afternoon, Elaine thought a little stir-fry was a good idea. However that involved dragging crates of vegetables from point A to point B. She stumbled across Libra along the way. Of course Elaine's arms were aching, and she could hardly see over the last crate, but Elaine was sure she could do it on her own.

The Priest waved slightly as they crossed paths with Gaius, who just lazily saluted. Elaine would have done something similar under different circumstances. "Hmm?" Elaine heard from behind her. "What's this fancy little doll doing here?"

"Oh, I believe that's mine," Libra said, turning himself around. "I must have dropped it."

Elaine looked over her shoulder to see a small doll with a head-full of yarn in the thief's hand. "Righto, here you go," the ginger said, tossing the doll to Libra. "So what's that little doodad, anyway? A graven image of one of your gods?"

Libra shook his head. "Oh, no. It's just a toy doll. The children in Ylisstol's orphanage have been asking me for them. They just wanted something they could find at night - to help them, sleep you see."

"Aw!" Elaine breathed out. Why didn't she ever think of that? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"You sewed a doll for a pack of whelps you barely know?" Gaius asked, somewhat genuinely surprised. "I think there's a special place for you in heaven, Padre!"

"It's not so bad," Libra said with a reassuring smile. "It only takes me a few hours to construct each one. And to be frank, such honest labor scarcely feels like work at all."

"Some days, just getting out of bed is labor enough for me," mumbled Gaius. His brow rose as a thought hit him. "Say, though. You ever considered giving the little moppets sweets as well?"

"Sweets?" Elaine questioned. On paper it seemed like a good idea, but she had to wonder if they could actually handle it. So much sugar at once and they wouldn't be able to sit still and behave for their caretakers. This was a trap, she knew it.

"You know, sugary stuff. Pastries and whatnot? Kids love 'em."

Libra thought about it for a moment. "No, I had no such plans. The thought never occurred to me," he confessed. "But perhaps it is something to keep in mind of the next visit. Thank you, Gaius. I'm glad this chat wasn't a complete waste of time."

Elaine bit back a smile, which died as soon as Libra took one of the crates from her. "I insist," Libra said firmly. "I fear you'll collapse long before you even make it to your destination."

She wouldn't go as far as to say she would collapse, but at this rate Elaine did see shaky hands in her future. A little help never hurt anyone, she begrudgingly supposed. She looked up at Libra and smiled, "Thank you."

"Hay, Padre," Gaius called before the two could leave. "I'm just thinking…"

"Yes?" asked Libra.

"I mean, let's say you make enough sweets for an entire orphanage. That's gotta be a lot of sweets, right? Massive piles of 'em. So maybe you might put aside a couple for, say, the man who gave you the idea? I mean, it's only fair, right?"

And there it was. Elaine should have known there was a reason Gaius made such a suggestion. She knew he only joined the Shepherds in the first place for a bag of candy Chrom dropped. If Gaius was trying to keep his sweet tooth a secret then he needed to try so much harder. "You're asking me to steal sweets from orphans?" Libra asked in an utter deadpan.

"It's a _finder's fee_," Gaius corrected. "Sounds kinda… wrong, when you put it that way."

"Seriously?" Elaine asked dully. She looked back up at Libra. "Would you like any help making those dolls though? I'm pretty decent with a needle and thread myself."

Dinner that night consisted of squirrel meat fried with vegetables with the raw, meatless, option for Panne. Sully scanned the mess tent, unable to find the person she was looking for. "Hey, Kellam?" she called.

"R-Right here, Sully," a voice came from behind her. Whipping around she spotted the man who tended to blend in without even trying.

"L-Look, don't hit me!" Kellam pleaded quickly. "I know I helped you out again, but I didn't mean to! Honest!"

"Actually, I came to thank you," Sully said leading him over to an empty table. She steepled her fingers together. "I'll admit it, I was outmanned that time. Had you not stepped in…"

"What?" Kellam questioned, dropping his fork in surprise. "Are you saying-"

"Yes, yes, all right," Sully said begrudgingly as she waved her hand. "Yes. You win. You can watch my back. _Gods_, I've never met a more stubborn man in all my life!"

She finished by pounding her fist against the table. "Everyone needs help sometimes, Sully," Kellam said, taking her little outburst in stride. He picked up his fork and pushed it around his food. "I mean, we all fight for the same cause. It makes no sense to stand alone, no matter how strong you are."

A smirk appeared on the redhead's face. "So you want to serve as everyone's shield, huh?" she asked. "Well, that's a hard role for any one man. So how about I help you out?"

"Help me out?"

"If you're watching everyone else' back, someone's gotta cover yours, right?" asked Sully. "You can be the shield of the Shepherds, and I'll be the shield of you." She finished by poking Kellam in the shoulder.

"Er… I suppose," Kellam reluctantly agreed. Although it felt like it defeated the purpose. "But…"

"What?" Sully huffed with a glare in her eyes. "You don't like the idea of someone helping you? Well, thought beans!"

Kellam smiled weakly. Sully may have called him the most stubborn man she met, but Sully was certainly the most stubborn woman of them all.

Lon'qu just about skipped out on dinner that day, having been put off by Gregor's denial of a battle between them. Which lead Lon'qu to work on a technique mastered by Khan Basilio; perfectly slicing through a water flask without spilling a single drop. He knew going in that it wasn't an easy task, but after trying several times it did not appear that Lon'qu was showing any improvement. Olivia had offered her assistance, having observed Basilio for years, Lon'qu was able to at least learn from it.

His latest attempted ended much the same; with the flask shattering and the water spilt. Sheathing his blade Lon'qu muttered a curse under his breath. "Hey, Lon'qu?" he heard from behind him. "They're almost ready to clean up dinner. Perhaps you should take a break."

He looked over his shoulder to find that Olivia had approached far too close for his comfort. "Get back!" he snapped. "Not one step closer!"

"Sorry!" Olivia squeaked out as she took a couple of steps back. "I-I didn't mean to… W-Wait, do I make you nervous?"

Lon'qu forced himself to look away. "I'm not hungry," he huffed out. "You may give my portion to someone else."

Olivia thought about it for a moment. Of course she knew full well that it wasn't good for anyone to skip out on meals. But then again, Lon'qu wasn't exactly like the others, he lived by stricter rules. "Well, I guess if anyone can skip meals, it's you," Olivia said softly. "Basilio did say he never knew anyone with more self-discipline."

"He said this to you directly?" asked Lon'qu.

"Well, yeah," Olivia replied with a sudden change in her demeanor. Her shyness melted away now that she was talking about a subject she was comfortable with. "He talks about you all the time, actually. Saying you're a genius with the blade and his true rival and blah-blah-blah. He'd talk about you to anyone within earshot." She flashed him a very bashful smile. "Everyone got bored of it, honestly."

The myrmidon suddenly found it overwhelmingly difficult to keep his emotions in check. "I had no idea Basilio felt thus," he confessed.

"You look pleased," the pink haired girl said sweetly with her arms behind her back as she rocked back and forth on her feet.

Immediately, Lon'qu once more forced himself to look away. "N-Not at all," he said through a cough. He covered the lower half of his mouth with one hand hoping to distract himself from the heat forming on his cheeks. "I care not what he thinks of me. Perhaps I will eat after all. Excuse me."

The timid girl stepped aside, allowing Lon'qu to stride by. She smiled to herself as her face began to turn red. Lon'qu's stoic façade completely fell away when she told him that. His face was so red, it was so cute!

* * *

**Authors Note:** And we've got _**Friendship Moments; The Chapter Part II Electric Boogaloo**_. So this mini-arc is mostly filler to have the characters bond in peace. Kinda boring. But… bonding… kinda the whole point of the game and there's a butload of characters. So… And I wanted to separate Chrom and Anali to show that our romantic leads can function just fine without having the other at arms length all hours of the day.

And Anali doesn't like bugs. Well THAT certainly can't be foreshadowing hijinks with a certain boy. I'm actually pretty glad that Kellam was able to have two appearances in this chapter. I genuinely do tend to forget about him at times. His running gag works too well! Thought in all seriousness I've never related to a video game character more than Kellam.

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Chapter Eighteen  
Harvest**

"Like this?" Nowi asked.

She placed her lips on the mouthpiece and blew an out of tune _ReeeEEEEeeeeeEEEeEeEeE_!

Anali shuttered at the sound. "Kind of," she said, taking the ocarina from Nowi. "But you need to use these holes to make notes. Like-" She played a quick, upbeat little tune. "Like that."

"Okay. So how do you know how you make notes?"

Anali sat still just staring off into the distance. After a pregnant pause she filled her cheeks up with air and slumped back. Now there was a question she had no answer to. Everything Anali knew about the ocarina she just sort of knew. She didn't remember taking lessons, she couldn't remember looking at any sheet music. It just sort of came to her. Anali wasn't even sure if she knew anything about music theory.

With their roommates all out with Chrom, both Nowi and Anali found sleeping to be pretty lonely, so they moved in together for the time being. Then Nowi found Anali's ocarina, and asked if she could teach her. It was a better idea on paper. Completely at a loss of what to say, Anali just put the instrument to her lips and played the first thing that came to mind; the lullaby Olivia taught her.

It was something she often found herself playing for one reason or another. It was a comfort, but it also made Anali feel kind of sad. She must have heard it before Olivia, but exactly when or where was an utter blank. Playing Anali could almost hear someone singing along in her minds eye, the voice, however, switched between Olivia and someone unknown. _'Sun goes down, and we are here together. Fireflies glow like a thousand charms, stay with me and you can dream forever right here in my arms-'_

"Lady Anali?" the door opened to reveal a tanned skin young woman. Her dark watery-blue hair was done into a thick pixie-cut, and her eyes were a brilliant shade of blue with gold flakes. "Princess Lissa requests your presence in the courtyard."

"Is something wrong?" asked Anali.

"Not at all," the young woman smiled. "We have a visitor from Eos and he brings news from the Exalt."

Anali's brow rose; news from Chrom? Good news or bad news? She had to hope it was good news, especially if that news came with a visitor. Was it too much to hope that he and the others would be home soon? It had been more then a month since they first left, Anali knew that the plan was to stay at each duchy for a couple of days before they headed out to the next one. There were at least seven duchies in Ylisse, was a month enough time?

Anali stood up. "Thank you, uh…"

"Lazuli," the girl said with a smile. "And I'm just doing my job, ma'am."

"Nowi don't get into too much trouble," Anali said as she quickly put her coat on. She managed to catch a quick glimps of Nowi sticking her tongue out at her before Anali left the room.

In the courtyard Anali was nearly floored when she came face-to-face with an open beak, and a strangled shrill. She let out a fearful shout as she took a step back. From behind the beast she could hear Lissa howl in laughter. "Falkor, over here!" someone said behind the beast. "Come on, you're going to give her a heart attack."

She heard a whimper escape from the creature; it backed away. There it was, a full grown griffon with smoky grey feathers, with large barding on its being. The griffon kept its head lowered as it walked up to a man with dark pink hair, dressed in armor. "I know, I know," the man said, petting the griffon on the neck. "You were just being friendly."

Lissa took the griffon's head into her hands and started murmuring sweet nothings to it. Anali, however, remained on edge. Why was there a griffon in the courtyard? Weren't griffon's more of a common place in Valm? "Sorry about him," the pink haired man said; he walked up to Anali as he spoke. "That's just Falkor's way of saying hello. Anali, right? Tybalt Duir of Dion."

He held his hand out in front of him, with a bright, friendly grin on his face. Anali stared up at him dumbly, still rather confused. Tybalt seemed genuine and friendly at first glance, he clearly knew the royals well enough, given how Lissa was babying a full grown griffon. Silently Anali shook hands with him. "The Exalt had asked me to head over to Ylisstol to introduce myself," Tybalt explained. "He has plans for a new flight squad after Captain Phila's passing, and hopes to introduce griffon's to the army."

Anali's brow rose when she heard this. At the moment the Pegasus Knights were in a bit of disarray. Phila had such great respect amongst her subordinates no one wanted to take her place as captain. There was always a tactical advantage to have flying units, and griffon's were hardly the same thing as pegasi. Griffon's brought something new to the table. "That's… actually a pretty good idea," Anali said with a growing grin. "Brilliant idea, actually. I can't wait to come up with a strategy for griffons now."

Tybalt threw his head back and laughed. "I think Falkor shares your optimism," he said, gesturing over his shoulder. "Life in Dion has been getting a little dull for him."

"Oooh! Tybalt, Tybalt, Tybalt!" Lissa chanted while she hurried up to the pair. "Tell her what else!"

Smirking slightly, Tybalt rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I've had a long talk about this new squad," he said. "Actually it seems like he talked to me more than he did my father - and well, that's another story, never mind. Anyway, before we both parted Chrom had asked me to tell Lissa that he and the others should return in about a fortnight."

Two weeks. Two weeks that would surely be agony. On one hand Anali had a rough estimate for when she could see Chrom and the others again. On the other hand Anali had a rough estimate for when she could see Chrom and the others again. It was an irritating paradox. Anali missed being in a roomful of people, and chatting with the girls before bed. And she missed being able to see Chrom on a regular basis. When they were finally married, there would probably be times of separation like this, especially if Anali was with child at the time, but at the same time, Anali doubted she would just be in the castle with three of the Shepherds. She was pretty sure that was Fredericks idea this time around.

Anali wanted to see Chrom again, to spend time with him by the maple grove, and then… Well, she didn't know what, Anali figured that, at most, things would go back to the way they were before he left. Maybe they would talk about their future, what their marriage would mean for Anali; she wouldn't just be marrying a man she was taking a new job.

Two weeks, given they were lucky. Suddenly fourteen days seemed unbearably long.

Chrom wanted to save the dukedom of Leto for last given that was where Sumia's family hailed from. While not wanting to pry, Chrom heard that Duchess Rebeck still hadn't quite given her daughter and her husband her blessing on their marriage. Sumia was antsy on the way over, despite the fact that Chrom and Frederick encouraged her to sit this one out, to stay hidden amongst the Shepherds while they say she was back in Ylisstol. "It won't work," Sumia said shaking her head. "Mother would only sniff me out, she's done it before."

Her eyes rolled to the side while she pouted slightly. Her tone made Chrom question how literal Sumia meant that. "B-Besides," Sumia said wrapping her arms around Fredericks. "I'm sure it won't be so bad, so long as you're there too."

And then Frederick actually blushed. _Frederick. _"S-Sumia, please," Frederick looked down at his wife with a reddened face. "Not in front of Chrom."

Chrom had been seeing so many new sides of Frederick as of late. What would happen when Sumia found herself with child? He feared the world would never be ready for that.

Lady Rebeck was having her midmorning tea when the three arrived. Her eyes lit up upon seeing her daughter, and she placed the cup and saucer down on the table. "Darling!" Lady Rebeck said tossing her arms around Sumia. "I wasn't expecting you until later! Have you grown your hair out? You look positively radiant, love."

"Mother," Sumia said weakly.

"Lady Rebeck," Chrom greeted with a respectful bow of the head. "I'm sure you know why we're here."

"Oh, of course, milord," Lady Rebeck said releasing her daughter. "I am pleased to say that most damage has been outside Leto borders. At the most, the merchants were robbed, provided they could actually subdue them, that is."

"Wonderful to hear," Chrom said, taking a seat across from the Duchess. "I confess, I figured as much. I noticed that the towns that got the worst of it were closer to Ylisstol."

"I imagine so," agreed Lady Rebeck. "But alas, the most I've caught wind of is villagers gossiping about Exalt Chrom's future bride." She rose her eyebrow at this, suggestively.

Chrom saw the game she was playing, thought she wasn't even trying to hide it. However, he was more than capable of countering. "Yes, and after I've married they'll start gossiping about the next prince or princess, then they'll gossip about something else."

"I suppose. However there is a difference between a royal wedding and an heir. We won't know who our next queen is until you've made your choice, milord. _Especially_ after Exalt Emmeryn dissolved both of your previous engagements. We would've known off the bat that they were smart matches."

"Mother!" Sumia hissed with a reddened face. She buried her face into her hands.

Chrom's brow creased. Of course the Duchess _would_ think his previous engagement was a wise match. Chrom often forgot that he and Emmeryn were once engaged in their childhoods, both of them were arranged by Calhoun with the children of one of the council men. When their parents died and Emmeryn took the throne she dissolved both of their engagements. Chrom never got around to asking why, but tended to think it was because Calhoun got to choose his bride and marry for love, and Emm wanted all three of them to make the choice themselves and marry for love.

Lady Rebeck's butler returned with a fresh pot of tea, and spare cups for her daughter and guests. Chrom grimaced, black tea, something he had to force down his throat more than once to be polite. He never did like the stuff much. "I'm just saying, love," said the Duchess. "We need someone of say… _your_ caliber as Ylisse's next queen. We can't have some… some…" she waved her hand in circular motions to find the right words. "_Servant_ on the throne."

"Mother!"

"What we need is a wise match for the Exalt, love."

"If I may, _mother_," Frederick said, placing his hand over Sumia's from under the table. "Sometimes the wisest thing is silence."

Lady Rebeck looked like someone had just slapped her across the face. Sumia looked up at Frederick with her mouth hanging open. Chrom had to cover his mouth to keep himself from laughing. As much as Chrom would have loved to knock Lady Rebeck down a peg or so by announcing that he already had chosen his bride, but this worked just as well. It looked like Frederick would be able to keep up with his mother-in-law.

Clearing his throat, Chrom placed his hands firmly on the table. "I'm afraid Frederick is right, ma'am," he said. "We're not here to discuss marriage, we're here for politics, to discuss the damage done. Since there is no damage, than we will discuss a new squad I'm aiming to develop. I've already discussed it with Tybalt Duir, son of Escalus Duir of Dion, member of the council." Chrom spoke as quickly as possible, never once allowing the Duchess to get a word in.

"I'm sure you've heard about Captain Phila's passing, at the moment the Pegasus Knights are in chaos. As it is now, I do not expect it to become what it once was, but with time, I think it can be better." Pausing for a moment Chrom took in a deep breath. "Once again, I've spoken with Tybalt Duir, as you know, he's an accomplished Griffon Rider, and I'm hoping to introduce a new squad to Ylisse's military. So we're recruiting any man or woman for our new Griffon Riders."

"Griffons?" Lady Rebeck repeated her jaw slacked. "With all due respect, milord, that hardly seems like something Lady Emmeryn would ever-"

"I am fully aware of that, Duchess," replied Chrom. "I aim to find a middle ground between Calhoun's bloody legacy, and Emmeryn's peaceful ideals. Meaning I will take the action's necessary when I have to. We will strike when there is no other option. And I think the Griffon Riders are a much needed aspect to our military."

"Ready, Lady Anali?" Tybalt asked.

Anali tightened her grip on Tybalt's waist; she sat behind him on Falkor. Sixteen days after he arrived they had finally finished a housing for the griffon until something proper could be build for him and the new recruits. The idea was to start training in the spring, after the snow had melted, until then they would get names and griffons and then get the supplies and armory required. Today, however, Tybalt and Falkor were going for their daily flight, an exercise for the griffon, and Anali gathered the courage to ask if she could go along.

She liked Tybalt well enough for someone she only knew for sixteen days, he had enough energy to keep up with Nowi when she wanted to play, and she utterly adored Falkor. She learned that Tybalt's father was on the council, so he was a friend of the family, although when Lissa explained it Anali got the feeling that there was something she was leaving out. Just by the way Lissa looked nervous when she spoke, it told Anali that she was hiding something.

"R-Ready," Anali stuttered out. As much as she wanted to tell herself that it was like riding a Pegasus, it wasn't. Griffon's were larger, and stronger than pegasi.

Falkor trotted forward a few paces, his wings unfurling at his sides. He flapped them twice and he hovered as he continued. A few more moments past before Falkor took off, gliding through the air. Gliding over Ylisstol Anali imagined children looking up at them in wonder. It amazed Anali to look back and see herself weary of flying. In a matter of weeks Anali managed to fly on her own, and was even working on fighting on horseback. Her hopes was to one day be able to do more than just use magic on the back of a Pegasus one day.

She could feel the difference between flying with Tybalt on Falkor, and flying with Sumia on Rosella. Sitting on Falkor was a little awkward a first, it was a wider seat, so wide that Anali wasn't sure how she was going to climb off. And his wings were stronger than a Pegasus. And there was the fact that Falkor had talons. Oh yes, Anali could not wait to devise griffon-base strategies. This new squad opened a new world of possibilities. "You all right back there?" Tybalt called over the wind.

"Yes!" replied Anali.

"I think I see something headed into the city."

He urged Falkor a few yards forward, and Anali could see what Tybalt was talking about. In the distance Anali could see a line of figures traveling down the road. Two of the figures were flying just above them, and, when Anali really squinted, she could see a large beast on four legs. Anali's pulse quickened for a moment as the thought entered her mind, _They're back!_

Tybalt must have had the same thought, as he immediately urged Falkor to turn around back toward the castle. When they landed Anali slid off of Falkor's hide, stumbling onto the ground as she did so. Getting back onto her feet Anali sprinted off towards the garrison looking everywhere for Lissa.

Lissa had just about tackled Chrom and Maribelle to the ground upon their return. When she saw Gaius again, the first thing Lissa did was proudly show him her embroidery with the claim that she was practicing. The 'cat' she was working on looked more like a dragon with a blocky head. Anali was quick to embrace Sumia, over the last month Anali realized just how much she missed her in general. While Anali liked Cordelia well enough, and she'd like to think Cordelia felt the same, it just wasn't the same since Sumia got married.

"Anali!" Tharja's voice made Anali jump, but her sudden hug almost stopped her heart. It was either because Tharja was on her knees with her face in her thigh (for some reason) or simply because it was Tharja. "You're looking a little thin, have you been eating well?"

"Perfectly…" Anali said frigidly. How could she get her off without being mean?

"Hey, nice hair," Cordelia said, taking a small tendril into her hand before she released it. "Guess you liked it more than I thought."

Anali shrugged. "I'd been wearing my hair in pigtails for months. I was over due for a change."

She allowed her eyes to wander to Chrom. Slowly, he mouthed, "Maple grove. Tonight." She nodded in response.

During dinner that night, Sully relayed several stories to her while they were gone. But what really interested Anali was the slam Frederick gave his mother-in-law. "Seriously?" Anali asked through a laugh.

"Yeah, I wish I could've seen it," Sully said with a voice full of yearning. "Good to know ol' Frederick's not afraid of Duchess Rebeck. Man word travels fast, I'm not sure how anyone knew about it, it was just the three of them there."

Anali wished she could've seen it too. If the Duchess wasn't the mother of his wife, odds were Frederick would have been politely cold. He wouldn't have pretty much told her to shut up. "But something' weird's goin' on with Liam and Stahl," Sully said, tearing off a piece of chicken with her teeth.

"Weird how?" asked Anali.

"Weird in that they're _spending time together_. They'll disappear into an empty tent together, and I even heard music while on patrol once."

"Music?"

"Yeah like that little instrument Liam carries with him," Sully said, pointing her chicken bone in Liam's direction. "Sound's kinda like that."

"But isn't that a good thing?" Anali asked with a slight tilt of the head. "We want Liam to spend more time with us if we're actually going to trust him with our lives."

"I suppose so, but it feels so… _weird_."

After she ate Anali snuck away from the mess hall and hurried to the maple grove. A small smile formed on her lips, if things kept up like this it looked like the tree would be 'their' place. Chrom was already there, waiting for her with his back rested against the tree. Wordlessly, Anali nearly ran into his arms and just held on for dear life.

At night, when Nowi was konked out asleep, was when Anali missed him the most. The overwhelming need to just _see_ him and exchange a simple hello with him made it so hard to sleep sometimes. She managed to comfort herself by lighting a candle to read for a few minutes. There were at least three nights in the month they were gone that Anali really struggled to fall asleep.

Chrom, in turn, had yearned to hear her guiding voice whenever they came across trouble. They came across four hordes of Risen, and Anali's strategies had worked, but it wasn't the same. Nights were much the same for him as well. He just wanted her in his arms again, to just hold her hand some days.

Their lips met as soon as they parted from their embrace. Chrom's knees bucked slightly and they slid onto the ground. Coming out for air, Chrom placed one hand on Anali's shoulder and guided her down so that she laid on the grass. A moment passed with Chrom hovering over her, where they looked into each other's eyes. They had come to a silent agreement, anything they wanted to know in their absence could wait until tomorrow. Tonight was just between the two of them.

He lowered himself down to kiss her again; Anali almost jumped out of her skin when she felt Chrom lick her lower lip. What surprised her was that she allowed his tongue to push against hers. Anali's fingers entangled themselves in his hair, their kiss deepening. Chrom's lips parted from hers in favor of nibbling her right ear. Anali shuttered under the touch, goose bumps littered her arms.

And then she felt something cup her breast. She didn't need to open her eyes to know it was Chrom. What had gotten into him tonight? What had gotten into _her_? Anali's breath hitched when Chrom's hand left her chest. She was suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to just go all the way. To throw caution to the wind and just tear off Chrom's clothes, do the same to herself and feel things she never had before.

But this wasn't the place. The nights were too cool for comfort. How would it look if they were caught? And a tree root was serving as Anali's pillow right now. This was far from the place where Anali imagined herself for her first time. It was that thought that kept her from acting on these desires.

Chrom kissed her on her forehead before he lowered himself onto her. He had slunk down so that his head was rested under the crook of Anali's neck. She wrapped her arms around as best she could in this position. "I missed you," she murmured into his hair.

"I missed you," Chrom murmured in response.

She could have fallen asleep there. No matter how much she did not want to leave, Anali had to remind herself that one day they could fall asleep like this every night.

* * *

August disappeared as quickly as it came. The leaves were beginning to die and the harvest season came at full force. The reconstruction of Ylisstol finished when the church was reopened, shops had long reopened for business and families were protected by the elements in their homes. Life went on.

October was coming to it's end, and with it came the annual harvest festival. It was exactly what it sounded like, an annual festival celebrated in all parts of Ylisse on the last day of October. To rejoice in a bountiful harvest. And this year, Ylisstol had much to celebrate. "So, it's just a lot of eating and drinking?" Anali asked Chrom one evening in October. She sat with her back against the maple tree after speaking about the harvest with Chrom.

"Sort of. It's also an occasion for traveling merchants to sell their goods before the weather get's cold. The local shops try to get in on it as well."

Anali nodded absently. While she understood the idea, Anali wasn't quite sure if it was going to be her cup of tea. However she was curious about the food. "There's something else, Anali," Chrom said, taking a seat beside his fiancée. He laced one arm around her shoulders and allowed her head to rest into his chest. "Usually, on the first of November, we usually hold council before it snows and it's still easy to travel. I was hoping you'd join us."

A council meeting? Of course he asked her of this, for a couple of reasons. Some of them were blaringly obvious. "I'll have to attend them eventually, won't I?" Anali asked through a sigh.

"I know," said Chrom. "There's several burdens in being with me."

"If it bothered me I would have said no. Both times," she replied thinking back on Chrom's offer to join the Shepherds. It felt like so long ago now. "So what do you suggest doing during the festival?"

"Vaike and I usually partake in an apple fritter eating contest," Chrom replied casually. "Not sure if we can do that this year, however."

"Want me to do it in your place?" Anali asked in a sing-song tone.

Chrom chuckled. "No thanks. I don't think Vaike's looking forward to it after he nearly choked last year."

She tried not to laugh, no matter how in-character it was for Vaike. To just get a little crazy and accidentally clog up his own windpipe, that seemed so much like him. "Either way, I am curious about the apple fritter's now," said Anali.

The end of October arrived with much excitement and relief. The streets were decorated with colored paper lanterns and streamers that gave the streets an ethereal feel as the sun began to set. The traveling merchants, including several of Anna's sisters, had their booths set up and brightly decorated to draw in attention. The air carried the sent of apples, pumpkin and roasted corn and an energy that was downright contagious.

That night Miriel could have been caught at a rare moment; she was in town without a book. It was the one rule Vaike had given her if she was going to the festival with him. It was something she could obey easily enough with the right mindset. If it was for research Miriel could put up with any limitations.

Miriel could name the stars and constellations in a matter of minutes. She could date historical events all the way back to the era of the Hero-King himself, and just a little further back. There were many a thing Miriel prided herself in knowing, but the human heart, human emotions, that was something that eluded her. So, given that she had learned quite a bit from Vaike as of late, who better to teach Miriel about human bonds?

If he wasn't up for it he shouldn't call himself Teach, after all.

So, she watched as Vaike found himself in an arm wrestling contest with several local men. He lost against the blacksmith, who was the overall winner. And then they bought themselves a turkey leg each, however the thing was far too big for Miriel and she found herself unable to finish it. Mercifully Vaike allowed Miriel to digest for a moment before they went onto pies and apple cider.

While they watched the wood splitting contest Vaike made a few comments, most if not all of them were directed at her. It may have been the cider talking but Miriel realized that most of the men, and the occasional woman, Miriel was pulling for one of Anna's sisters, had acted like they could have been lifelong friends. It was odd, she was certain Vaike had never spoken to most of the men he was arm wrestling with, and the vendors smiled at them like they were regular customers. Perhaps some bonds did not need the time of days or even years, sometimes they could be instant. They had something, even if it was something so miniscule in common. They did meet, even if it was so brief. It was fascinating, almost inspiring.

She was pulled out of her stupor by the applause, Anna's sister had won. "So," Vaike said after a while, when the crowd started to scatter. "You think you're starting to get it?"

Vaike's eyes met hers and Miriel suddenly realized that her face felt warm. A side effect of the cider, surely. As was the feeling in the pit of her stomach. Miriel didn't drink all that much to begin with. There was a logical explanation for this. "I… believe so," she affirmed after she readjusted her glasses. "I have since developed a couple of hypothesis through a few observations. I thank you, Vaike, this has been quite the learning experience."

Vaike's mouth twisted slightly. "Ya know, I'm usually fine with a yes or no answer."

Anali traveled the streets alone with a messenger bag over her shoulder. She had enough foresight to know that she would probably make a few purchases. She already had a new book for pleasure reading, and an ocarina for Nowi. With one hand gripping the bag strap Anali smiled to herself as she looked up at the quickly darkening sky. "Hey, Bubbles," she heard.

Stopping in her tracks Anali stared at the familiar ginger haired man behind a small stall. "Gaius?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "I… didn't know you ran a market stall…"

"Yeah," he said with a slight shrug. "I like to get out, meet the common folk, sell the odd trinket I don't need and decided I might as well for the festival. Speakin' of which, see anything you fancy?" he asked. He gestured to the goods in the stall as he listed them off. "I've got silk smallclothes from exotic ports-"

"Yeah, can you not announce that?" Anali asked as she rubbed her temples. Why did he even _have_ those?

"Genuine leather belts, top-quality figs…"

"I'm not exactly allowed near figs anymore," Anali rubbed the back of her neck as she spoke. "Kinda a lethal weapon in my hands."

"Right, no problem there, I've got other things. Like these…" he cut himself off and dug around under his stall. Gaius came back up a moment later with a parcel in hand. "Valmese carac pastries. Had to make a few trades to get 'em, but I'm willing to part."

"What? No!" Anali shot back. "I'm not taking something you had to make trades with! It's pretty obvious that _you_ want them!"

"Consider it my gift to you," Gaius said waving it off by shoving the parcel into her hands. "That'll make us even about the whole 'wink-wink' thing."

"You're _still_ going on about that?!" snapped Anali. "Gods, I've never seen a more pigheaded- For the last time, I am not blackmailing you! Now, take these back so I can leave in good conscience."

"Oh, I see," the thief said accusingly. "Foreign sweets aren't enough for you? Still holding out for something better?!"

"Oh, for the love of-!" Anali brought her forehead into the palm of her hand. Was there no getting through to this man? Maybe if she actually bought something that would be the end of this conversation. Find something… "Oh," she exhaled add grabbed a wooden pendant. "This is quite handsome, never quite seen the likes of-"

"That pendant?" questioned Gaius. "All right, throw that it and call it even?"

"GAIUS!"

"Guess not…"

"Aw, are you two fighting?" Lissa said suddenly appearing at Anali's side. "I know what you need! C'mon Gaius, time to close up shop, I wanna split some bread pudding with you."

"Thanks, but no thanks, Princess," said Gaius. "Still got a bit of negotiation to work on."

Lissa scoffed. "Nonsense, you can negotiate with Anali any other day. Harvest only comes once a year. Now, come on!"

To the surprise of the thief and the tactician, Lissa reached into the stall and yanked Gaius out. Anali nearly dropped Gaius' parcel out of sheer surprise. Since when was Lissa _that_ physically strong? "Now come on," Lissa said grabbing Gaius by the arm. "It's pumpkin pudding, if that helps."

The thief stumbled a few times practically dragged down the road by Lissa. "What am I supposed to do with this?" Anali called, gesturing to Gaius' parcel. Sighing, she quickly placed it inside the stall, closed the curtain and continued down the street herself.

"Hey, hey, easy Princess! I can walk on my own, you know!" Gaius complained after stumbling over his own feet one too many times.

"Are you going to come with me without complaining?" Lissa asked with her head held high and eyes forward.

"Yeah, fine, whatever."

Satisfied, Lissa released his arm and started to swing her own arms at her sides as she walked. "You know, you could've just brought it to the stall," Gaius pointed out.

"Yeah but what fun would that be?" the blonde asked in response. "Food like this is meant to be shared, in the moment, face to face! I'd 'ev thought you, Mr. Sweet Tooth, of all people would've known that."

Gaius sighed through his nose. Lissa was practically hopping up and down when they met up again after their month-long journey. And he actually blushed. Gaius never batted an eye when Bubbles walked in on him in the bath, but a tight hug and bright smile from Princess got him feeling quite warm in the face.

They started their usual activities with Lissa trying to pick up on a new skill, and occasionally her friend Maribelle would join them. All the while she would glare daggers at him. If Twinkles had been anyone else Gaius would have just chalked it up to her being a little overly protective, given his profession. But no. Twinkles had every right to glare at him the way she did.

It was probably for the best that he keep his distance from Princess for a while. Partially because of Twinkles and her friendship with Princess, and partially because people would eventually start to get the wrong idea. Gaius could put up with the whispers and accusations, he had been called some pretty nasty things in his time. Princess, however may not be able to handle it the way he was. And there was the fact that Gaius was becoming afraid of what was happening on his end.

Last year Elaine was enjoying the festival with Regan. They were giggling like school girls as they tried the various dishes, and chatted with the merchants. It wasn't fair, there was no way Elaine could have gotten to Regna Ferox on her own. Regan probably could have, she should have insisted she go on without her, maybe Regan could have out ran their pursuers if that happened.

She handed a vendor a couple of silver moons in exchange for a roasted ear of corn. She used her apron as a pot holder until it cooled down enough to eat. She could still feel the heat burn into her skin. "Ow! Hot! Hot!" Elaine heard at her side.

Turning her head she found Stahl tossing two ears in his hands. "Stahl, what the heck?" gasped Elaine.

"What?" Stahl asked in utter obliviousness. "I really like their corn."

She let out a nasally sigh, then took a bite out of it. Still hot. Regan would have just eaten the thing as fast as she could and complain that her insides were burning.

Burning…

The memory of Regan taking the fire spell flashed through her mind. And the javelin…

"Elaine…" Stahl said quietly. "Are you okay?"

She realized a little too late that she was crying. "Y-Yeah." Elaine quickly wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "It's still hot."

He knew she was lying. And he had a hunch what brought this on. Stahl couldn't imagine what Elaine must have gone through that night. What it must have felt like when you knew very little of self-defense. What it must have felt like to have someone's life end right in front of you, alone.

Stahl carried his corn in one arm, and wrapped his free arm around Elaine's shoulder, he allowed her to rest her head against his chest. The gesture had caused her tears to swell up and her lips quivered. "Why don't we go sit down?" Stahl suggested. "I'll sit with you as long as you need."

Afraid of what might happen if she spoke, Elaine just nodded.

"Such strange customs you have," said Panne. She took a bite out of one of the carrots in her arm, and sighed through her nose. So many people in the streets, anymore and it would have been downright claustrophobic.

"You find something wrong with the celebrating?" Gregor asked, waving a turkey leg in the air as he spoke. Panne stomach lurched when she caught the sent of meat. Mercifully the man-spawn noticed her discomfort and held it as faraway from her as he could. "These people be having rough year, no? More than deserving of the levity, you think?"

"Of course," nodded the taguel. "But why waste what they could use for the winter? The weather is so untamable, if something were to happen and there's a food shortage..."

Gregor's eyes traveled to the upper corner as he thought. Panne had a point. There was no telling how harsh the winter could be, and a food shortage had the potential to be cataclysmic. What was being used today could have been used for a rainy day, so to speak. However, the thing about humanity is that they were survivors. "I believe you underestimate human perseverance," Gregor replied with a bold grin.

Panne's lips puckered to the side. Her time with these man-spawn was something of a learning experience, she learned a few things about their culture and way of life. They came in different shapes and ideal, much like the various wearers of her own kind. The Shepherds themselves, were not that different from the warren of her childhood. It was like she was adopted into this new warren after many years alone. "Perhaps I do," Panne admitted in earnest. "Tell me, are occasions such as these common among man-spawn?"

"Depending on the time of year," replied Gregor. "Also depending on location. In Gregor home in Regna Ferox afraid it is too cold to be celebrating bountiful harvest."

"You're of Ferox then?" asked Panne.

"Gregor of many places. Too many to count. Gregor loose track of motherland ages ago."

"Liar," Panne said firmly.

"Oi! Why be making harsh accusations?" the mercenary asked with a playful pout.

"I am only speaking the truth. You do not forget your childhood home… no matter how painful the memories are."

The two stared at each other for a moment. Panne was the only woman in the Shepherds who could easily look Gregor in the eye. She was probably one of the few who could throw him across the yard with little effort. And she was the only one in the garrison who was the closest to his age. Through his travels he knew of the taguel, and had thought they went extinct. Apparently not quite. Perhaps Panne had gone from place to place as he had.

Gregor beamed, "Panne is awfully observant, no."

The taguel smirked. She decided not to tell him that she heard his breathing changed, which gave away his lie. Gregor could think what he wanted. And sometimes Panne enjoyed toying with man-spawn.

Anali nibbled on one of the apple cinnamon cookies she bought from the baker, there was enough to last her a week if she was smart about it. The bag was still warm when she put it into her satchel. "Hi Anali!" Nowi called. She ran past her, dragging Libra along side her. The poor guy struggled to keep up with the Manakete. "Bye Anali!"

She waved weakly, watching the two hurry by with a confused look on her face. Finishing her cookie, Anali swallowed. She looked forward to find a girl seated on an old, moth bitten blanket with small baskets placed upon it. Where had she seen her? She knew she had seen her before.

Oh of course. It was the same girl weaving baskets as the kids by her played with a wicker ball. Anali had seen her while getting construction reports. The grime on her face, and the soot in her purple hair made it pretty obvious where her place in the world was. Anali walked up to the blanket and crouched down. "Are these for sale?" she asked her kindly.

"Yes," the girl said with a nod. "Three stars each."

Three stars? The baskets were decently made, if the girl had an apprenticeship… well. But three stars could hardly get her what she needed. "I think I've seen you around," said Anali. She picked up one of the baskets and studied it. "With a couple of children; your siblings?"

She was silent for a moment, as though trying to decide whether or not to answer truthfully. "N-Not in the traditional sense…" she said.

Okay, that made sense, it seemed a bit natural to stick together if you didn't have anyone else. She couldn't have been more than fifteen, maybe sixteen. "Sorry," said Anali. "I should've introduced myself first. I'm-"

"Lady Anali," the girl cut off. "The Shepherd's tactician, I know. I'm… I'm Ofelia."

"All right, Ofelia," said Anali. "Are you willing to trade for the baskets?"

Ofelia's eyes widened for a moment. She must not have taken it into consideration. "I-I suppose," she said at last. "Depends, I guess…"

"Wait here."

Quickly, Anali got onto her feet and disappeared down the road. Ofelia stayed in her spot, wondering if she should have left or not. The tactician returned a few minutes later with a small crate full of apples in hand. "I'll take a few baskets in exchange for this," Anali said, placing the crate beside her.

"I-I couldn't-"

"Please, I insist. Wouldn't you want to have some apples for a while?"

Anali had the money for a few baskets, but three, six, nine, twelve stars would not buy much nor would they last long. The apples would at least feed Ofelia and the children she was with. It did not solve the issue that they were going to go hungry again once the apples were gone, or, if Anali was right, that they didn't have much of a place for winter.

Ofelia looked at the create with hungry eyes; it must have taken everything she had not to devour them right then and there. Slowly, she nodded in response. "Where can I find you on most days?" Anali asked, taking a couple of baskets into her arms. "I'd like to talk to you and your friends."

"A-At the church," Ofelia replied, shifting a lock of hair behind her ear. "Most… Most shops chase me away if I try to sell my baskets there. But the church doesn't mind."

"Okay," Anali nodded. "I'll try to meet you there soon."

* * *

"Lady Anali, it's a pleasure to officially meet you," Duke Page said shaking hands with her. "Ricken's told me a bit about you through in his letters."

Anali couldn't help but smile. Page seemed a bit humbler than what Anali was expecting. He was dressed in decent clothing, but it still could have passed off as casual. It was easy to place him as Ricken's father at first glance, his son probably resembled him in his youth. "Pleasure to meet you, as well," she said.

"Ylisse's master tactician…" Alder, Maribelle's father, mused. He looked Anali over once. "Well, you certainly clean up nice for a vagabond. If I didn't know any better I'd think you were amongst one of the highborn."

Yep, he was Maribelle's father. Anali chose to take that as a compliment. It certainly sounded like something his daughter would have said as a compliment. The fruit doesn't fall far from the tree after all. "Shalom, please," a pink haired man scoffed. The hair color made it pretty obvious who his son was. "With a name like Anali, she practically has Plegian written all over her."

"And?" Page challenged. "Do you forget that we were able to lay Lady Emmeryn to rest because of a group of Plegians?"

"After they killed her in the first place," Rebeck argued.

Anali flinched slightly. She sat beside Chrom on his left, the implication of that was not lost on her, with her hands on her knees. She wasn't sure if she should say something, that Anali personally wasn't responsible for Emmeryn, that Chrom would never allow her into the meeting if she was. Had Anali not been in a room full of nobles, and had she not been trying to make an impression, she probably would have said something.

But Lissa, seated on Chrom's right, beat her to it. Slamming her hands onto the table, she stood up. "There's a problem with that little theory, Orin," she spat, referring to Lady Rebeck by her first name. "Anali has been with us long before conflict with Plegia got as bad. Need I remind you that Anali tried to-

Chrom placed a hand on Lissa's shoulder. "Lissa, it's all right," he said. After she took in a calming breath, Lissa sat back down. "Lissa brings up a good point, Lady Rebeck, Lord Duir. And I would like to point out that if you insult or accuse one of my Shepherds, you insult and accuse me."

That was enough to get Duir and Rebeck to keep quiet. In the corner of her eye, Anali could see Frederick trying to suppress a smile. He must have relished in _someone_ putting his mother-in-law in her place. "Now, let's focus on what we're here for every year," Chrom said. "Harvest progress report, state of your dukedoms, and our new Griffon Riders."

Anali felt a hand over her own. She needed that. Just the reassurance that Chrom was with her no matter what they said.

She tried, desperately tried to keep up with what everyone was saying. That the harvest was good. That they would occasionally get the occasional bandit who tried to stir something, but was taken care of rather quickly. How some of them were looking forward to the new Griffon Riders. But all of this was so dull. How did Lissa manage to sit through this and stay sane?

"At worst," Duchess Rowan said, steepling her fingers. "The people will still have their memories of this horrible affair. Some of the elderly are afraid of an attack as bad a Ylisstol any day despite the war ending."

"Agreed," Page said through a sigh. "But there's always the future."

Anali had to flinch when Page spoke. His only son was on the frontline. He and his wife must have been terrified.

"Ah, yes," Duchess Hawthorn said with a bright smile and tone suggesting that she was only jesting. "Such as the day the Exalt chooses a bride. What a day to look forward to."

"Of course, we can't just have anyone as our next queen," Rebeck said, as subtle as ever. "Sadly, my dear daughter is off the market."

"Quite willingly," Frederick muttered.

"There's always my Maribelle," Alder spoke up. "A proper lady, but nothing short of a firecracker."

"I can vouch for that," Lissa laughed.

"Alas, I've only sons," Rowan said in mock disappointment. "But I imagine the Exalt is surrounded by many fine women in the Shepherds."

Anali smiled slightly as the councilmen joked among themselves. There was a blush on Chrom's cheeks, and he looked a bit uncomfortable. She felt his hand squeeze hers for a moment. "Yes, I am," Chrom confessed. He cleared his throat for a moment. "As a matter of fact, I've already found a woman I want to take as my wife. A while back I've asked Anali to marry me, and she accepted."

There was a sudden silence in the air, and Anali couldn't even enjoy the bewilderment on Frederick's face.

* * *

**Authors Note: **I'm admittedly a little nervous about keeping that steamy moment (which is probably the steamiest I've ever written, not sure what that says about me). Namely because I didn't want to imply that it was the separation that brought it on, it probably would have happened regardless. Chrom just got caught up in the moment, and got a little frisky. Anali got a slight taste of something and wanted more. Well, Chrom _**is**_ the first one in the Shepherds to have a baby…

Tybalt kinda sorta came about from my habit of reclassing Frederick as a Griffon Rider. It just seems kinda wrong to reclass Cherche or Gerome into Griffon Riders, so Freddy-bear it is! I'll say that Tybalt's kinda like Stahl in that he's a pretty simple guy and he's a friendly mofo. I always imagined griffon's are a common place in Valm. Also I really like making male characters with pink hair for some reason. And we finally met Lazuli. Her design is heavily based off of Lapis Lazuli from _**Steven Universe**_.

It always just made sense to me that Chrom's reign was a sort of middle ground between his father's legacy and Emmeryn's. It kind of seemed that way to me in the game even though it was never addressed.

I'm just going to admit it, I'm always nervous to write dialogue for Gregor. I'm just really afraid of going overboard with his broken English. I always saw Gregor and Panne as the oldest of the playable characters, not counting the manaketes, and I always saw Panne as the tallest of the female characters.

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**Chapter Nineteen  
Aftermath**

It was probably the most reckless thing he had done as Exalt to date. Reckless because he pulled the rug out from under Anali and made a big decision without telling her. Well, it certainly looked like their marriage was off to a great start. The way Chrom imagined it, he and Anali would have a talk, mutually agree the time was right, then announce it to the council. It never happened by just announcing it to get everyone to stop making jokes about his life, and trying to push him towards one way or the other. Like Chrom didn't understand what lied in his own heart, he may have been a bit slow but he picked up on it eventually.

Of course there were many fine women in the Shepherds, they were good fighters, good people. They all had their strengths and they were all wonderful in their own right. But for Chrom it was always Anali, he was a goner from the first day they met and he had long since past the point of no return. Love and marriage was never really an issue until recently, relatively speaking. And now that Chrom had just admitted his intention's out loud it was suddenly an overwhelming reality.

There was a silence among the councilmen, Lissa was trying her hardest to not burst out laughing, Frederick had gotten over the initial shock and was now as calm and stern as ever. Anali, however, was unsure of what to think. She was probably mad at him, understandably.

It was Lady Rebeck who was the first to speak up. "Milord, surely you jest?" she said standing up. "Y-You-You've not forgotten _everything_ Plegia has _done_ to us, to the haildom, to Lady Emmeryn?!"

"I've not," Chrom replied cooly. "However-"

"Then you've gone mad! One of those… _people_ as queen?"

"I'm afraid I must agree," said Alder. He was calm, reserved. He wasn't judging Anali, but look at things through a logical light. "From what I understand, through my Maribelle's letters, it would appear that Lady Anali doesn't remember anything before the Exalt found her in a field."

Lady Rebeck spat, "Oh that makes things much better!"

"Yes, I believe I've heard the very same thing," Duir added with a narrowed glance. "Covered head to tone in blood."

Murmurs suddenly filled the room. Even from Page, who was doing what he could to keep quiet and give Anali the benefit of the doubt. "That's an exaggeration," Anali said calmly. "Not a speck was on me from the waist down, just the upper body."

Alder's lips pressed together in a hard line. "I'm afraid that doesn't _exactly_ make the situation better, Lady Anali," he said. "Especially if you really do have no memory of how you even ended up in that position."

Anali sat back in her seat, her sudden bravado dissipated. Nearly eight months and Anali still had little to know inkling about her life before she woke up. Just the vaguest of feelings and many uncertainties. "Listen," Chrom spoke up. "We both know how it looks. We've been aware of it since the beginning, but-"

"Then you will know what a mistake this is," Hawthorn cut him off. "If the people caught word of Anali's situation, they-"

"May understand," Lissa cut off Hawthorn. "If the people of Plegia could accept Emmeryn for her actions, I would like to believe the people of Ylisse could do the same for Anali."

"But Emmeryn was treated as a folk hero, milady. We're talking about Ylisse's next Queen Consort."

"Folk heroes don't generally ignite revolutions."

"Which will surely happen in light of this union."

Did the nobles really think so little of what the people were okay with? The citizens of Ylisstol were civilized with her during the reconstruction, with a name like Anali it was pretty obvious where she originally hailed from. And just as Lissa said, the people of Plegia held Emmeryn in high regards for her actions, even gave her a bouquet for the funeral, couldn't Ylisse do the same for Anali?

"With all due respect," said Anali. "If I had any ill intentions for Chrom, his family, or Ylisse, wouldn't I have already done something by now? Why would I wait to do anything when Ylisse's army is becoming stronger? Wouldn't it make more sense to strike when everything was at its lowest?"

Chrom's head bobbed slightly as he nodded. "Speaking for myself, I don't expect everyone to accept our engagement and eventual marriage right off," he said. "I don't expect the same from any of you. But my choice is final; I will marry Anali."

"Milord!" Rebeck said slamming her hands onto the table in the exact same moment she stood back up. "How can you be so blind to her scheme? It's obvious at worst she's trying to destroy House Ylisse from the inside-"

"Ainsley, that's going a little far, don't you think?" asked Page.

"Shush, Greg!" Rebeck shot back at him. "It's not too late to loose your place in court. And, at best, this Plegian viper is some street rat trying to live the life of glamour and wealth!"

Rebeck may as well have just slapped Anali across the face. Did she truly believe that Anali was that sort of person? With or without Chrom's heart Anali had a stable home and job with the Shepherds. If she cared about glamour she would have gotten Maribelle's advice on rubbing elbows with the finest during big party events. If Anali was truly interested in wealth and glamour she would have been well on her way down that road by now. Surely Anali had the tenacity to achieve that lifestyle on her own, given the time.

As much as Anali would have liked to repay the verbal lashing three fold physically she had to remind herself that Lady Rebeck was Sumia's mother. She was Sumia's mother and Sumia wanted a good relationship with her again. Anali wasn't sure if she could handle the look Sumia would surely give her if she found she even so much a struck Lady Rebeck. Big brown eyes locked on her, not crying but silently telling Anali that she was better than that. But Anali could not take the Duchesses sitting down.

However, she would not get the chance to counter. Frederick beat her to it.

"We'll leave that sort of behavior to _you_, milady," he responded coolly. "I confess, I had the same fears you do now about Lady Anali. While I do find some of the circumstances alarming, and something that shouldn't be ignored entirely, I've trusted her with my life many times, and Lady Anali has yet to fail. Dare I say, Lady Anali is someone I will gladly and proudly serve upon her marriage to milord."

Eyes widening, Anali had to ball up one fist in front of her mouth to keep her emotions in check. This was a far, far cry from the Frederick she first met. He would have been among those opposed to the engagement, probably the most vocal about it. The things time changes.

Never before had Chrom been in such a hurry to end a council meeting before. As grateful as he was for Frederick and his words, this was getting out of hand and a wise man knows how to pick his battles. "I think that's a good place to stop for now," Chrom said after he cleared his throat. "I know some of you have a long journey home."

"I'm afraid we can't end until we've solved this matter," Lord Duir said firmly. "Especially if you intend on having some unknown Plegian tramp-"

Chrom shot onto his feet. "You do not have to accept my choice but you _will_ respect it!" His voice rose. He felt Anali take his hand; taking in a calming breath, Chrom continued. "Emmeryn once believed that peace can exist between our nations if both sides were willing to take that first step. As small a step it was, Anali and I took it when we first met. The events in the war bridged that gap, and perhaps our marriage will help solidify it."

Lady Rebeck was the first one out of the room, muttering under her breath about this being 'such a mistake,' and 'the end of House Ylisse.' Alder was whispering dangerously to Lord Duir, Anali wasn't sure what he was saying, she thought she heard Maribelle's name a couple of times.

The royals, Frederick, and Anali were left alone in the room in an awkward silence. Chrom expected Anali to get mad at him for blurting it out like that. She probably pictured it as similarly as he did. He had pulled the rug out from under her and put her in the position to defend herself without warning. Chrom had expected her to start ranting at him, but instead Anali ran up to Frederick and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Freddy Bear, you big softy! she squealed in delight.

"Milady, you're crushing me," Frederick said, trying to pry Anali off. "And I'll thank you not to refer to me by that ridiculous name."

Pouting playfully, Lissa's balled her hands up in front of her face. "Aw, c'mon Frederick. Even I was surprised by you're little speech there. You really have gotten soft."

"I believe we have Sumia to thank for that," Chrom quipped in.

The ever weary knight flushed scarlet, just what he always wanted, another excuse for his charges to tease him with. Oh, who was he kidding? Chrom and Lissa would have found something new, with or without his marital status. "Enough about me," Frederick said, holding Anali at arms length. "I believe you two owe me an explanation now. How long has this been going on?"

Looking away from Frederick, Chrom sighed as he rubbed his neck. "Since the war ended," he explained.

"Almost immediately after," Anali added quickly.

"And I knew," Lissa said with a hand in the air.

"So, three, four months then," Frederick muttered under his breath. "Have you set a wedding date in mind? Now that the council knows it's only a matter of time before the public knows."

In perfect unison, Anali and Chrom flinched then exchanged looks. "We wanted to wait a little," explained Chrom. He gestured to the table they previously sat at. "For reasons I hope would be obvious."

"Yes. There were probably better ways to announce it than in the middle of a council meeting."

"I didn't plan on it! It just sort of…" Chrom paused for a moment to find the right words. "Once I started I couldn't stop."

Anali crossed her arms over her chest. "To be fair," she said. "I was three japes away from announcing it myself. Although because it's me, they probably wouldn't have believed me."

Her brow rose for a moment before she smacked Chrom in the chest with the back of her hand. He flinched slightly but was otherwise unaffected. "_Talk to me _before you do something like that again!" Anali snapped. "That's how this whole 'marriage' thing is supposed to work right? I mean, I'm willing to let it slide because I just said I was about ready to do the same thing, but still!"

Frederick closed his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest to think. "We'll have to choose a date soon," he said thoughtfully. "Gods know everyone will be anxious."

Lissa rocked back and forth on her heels with her hands behind her back. "Do you have a rough idea?" she asked. "Maybe we could go from there."

"I think we're pretty much open to anytime," said Anali. "Since it's out in the open now."

"Might I suggest the first of January?" Frederick suggested. "New Exalt, new year, new member in the royal family."

Anali's brow rose at the thought. A winter wedding? Something Anali never really considered before, but it had the potential to be beautiful. A bright winter afternoon, the two of them walking out to greet the people after the ceremony, and the sun would catch on the snow making the land glow in a golden light. "I'm okay with anytime," said Chrom. He wrapped one arm around Anali's shoulder and pulled her close to him. "Today or a year from now, I just want to get married."

Smiling, Anali snuggled her head into Chrom's chest. "I'm… I'm okay with that," she said. Her smile faltered, a sudden thought smacked her like a tone of bricks. "But that only gives us two months to plan!"

Frederick smiled uncharacteristically smug with his arms crossed over his chest. "After all this time, you still doubt me, milady?" he asked. Oh gods, he was already calling her 'milady?' "Two months is more than enough time for me."

"He's right," Lissa said with one finger erect. "You should've seen what he put together for my thirteenth birthday party in just a week."

"Okay, so he's a Great Knight, butler, nanny, and a party planner," Anali said ticking off her fingers as she spoke.

"Add 'tutor' to the list, milady," said Frederick. "We'll have to give you a crash course in Ylisse history and etiquette."

"Might want to give Chrom a refresher course," Anali quipped. "Did I ever tell you about the time Chrom pretty much called me a man?"

Chrom's face flushed. "H-Hey!" he stuttered. "I did no such thing! I merely said that you never struck me as a lady at the time."

Rolling her eyes, Lissa crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh, that makes things a whole lot better," she said. "I'm with Anali, you need a refresher course."

Word always had a way of spreading amongst the Shepherds, even when no one was present for the event, they always found out. This time, however, it was a bit justified considering how many units had family on the council. When Cordelia first heard the rumor while feeding her Pegasus, Damian, she almost swore her heart stopped. But she was very quick to brush it off. It just came from the fact that the public wanted a new royal to adore, it wasn't anything she should worry her head over.

But during dinner that night, before Cordelia could even cut into her ham, the Exalt appeared in the mess hall. At first, Cordelia thought, hoped, that he was just going to join them, and he was… after he made the announcement. The Exalt and Anali would be married on the first day of the new year; Cordelia's heart broke right then and there.

While the rest of the hall erupted in happy cheers and congratulations for the… couple, Cordelia nearly leapt to her feet. She thought she heard Panne ask what troubled her, but Cordelia could hardly make out what was going on around her. Her world had just come to an end.

Keeping her head held up as high as she could Cordelia calmly walked out of the mess hall. As soon as she was out of the hall, she ran. Tears spilled down her cheeks, burning her eyes and making it difficult for her to see clearly. Why? Why, why? Gods, why?!

It was going to happen eventually, but couldn't Cordelia just pretend for a little longer? Why did it have to be Anali? Why not someone she didn't know, at least then it would have been easier for Cordelia to resent and dislike her. Why… Why couldn't it be Cordelia? Why hadn't her feelings gotten through to the Exalt?

Finally back in the stable, where she had wanted to go, Cordelia collapsed onto her knees, partially because her tears made it harder and harder to see, and partially because her legs were exhausted, she was never the best runner. Covering her mouth with one hand, she sobbed; she felt like she was going to be sick.

Cordelia loved the Exalt with everything she had, hadn't her feelings been enough? What did _she_ know about the Exalt, Cordelia knew him longer than she did. She had known him for _years_, Anali had hardly known him for one year. What was she going to do? She couldn't go back to their room, not tonight when Cordelia ached so much.

"What did you expect?" she heard from behind her.

Cordelia froze. Why did Naga hate her so? Of all the men to follow her, it had to be _him_? She did not turn around to face him, Cordelia did not need to see his smug 'I told you so' smile. "I told you before," said Liam. "If you want something you need to get it before you loose it. If you liked Chrom then you should have let him know."

"I-I-I don't…" she tried to force out. Her voice shook, and she did not bother to hide it. "It… It wouldn't have worked out… he was the Prince… he's the Exalt now, a-and I'm not a person of his-"

"Don't bullshit me, Cordelia!" Liam shouted. She heard something hit against one of the stable post, and the horse it was housing took a few steps back. "_Obviously_ Chrom doesn't care about someone's social status! Now, what was really holding you back?"

The Pegasus Knight shook, silently willing Liam to just go away. Cordelia did not want to talk, she wanted to be alone. She just wanted to cry. "You know what I think?" Liam asked through a sigh. "I think you're 'love' for Chrom is a sham."

"Shut up!" Cordelia snapped, finally turning to face Liam. Rage filled her red eyes and her teeth were bared. "How dare you?! You have no right to assum-"

"Then what's his favorite color?" Liam asked, completely unaffected by her outburst. It drove her crazy. "What does he like for dessert? His favorite season? Favorite place to be? How does Chrom like to relax? What's the one thing that annoys him the most?"

She froze again, trembling in place. She had nothing. Why couldn't she answer any of Liam's questions? Cordelia should know this, they were simple questions about the man she loved the most. His favorite dessert was… His favorite color was blue, wasn't it?

Sighing, Liam crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "Here's what I think," he said his voice was neither cold nor malicious. "I think you fell in love with some fabrication you created that just happened to have Chrom's face."

"Stop it!" Her hands balled up at her side.

"And you never pursued because you didn't want to set yourself up for disappointment."

"SHUT UP!" she screamed. She slapped Liam across the face. Fresh, angry tears slipped out of her eyes. "If you're done gloating, just get out of here!"

The Bard stood still for a moment, stunned. He placed a hand over his stinging cheek in a ill-fated attempt to sooth the skin. "Is that what you think I'm doing?" he asked. "I'm not gloating, I'm just rolling my eyes at the schoolgirl waiting for a Prince Charming who never existed. And I'm looking for the woman _he's_ head over heels for, because frankly I don't see her."

At long last he finally left. Cordelia lowered herself back onto her knees, her fingers entangled with her hair as she bit back a sob. As much as she wanted to wallow in her own self-pitty the same word repeated itself over and over in her head; 'fabrication.' No! Her love for the Exalt was genuine, far from a farce! It was genuine!

_Fabrication…_

Cordelia's head lowered itself onto the hay-covered floor, a frustrated shriek escaped her lips. Frustrated that Liam's stupid and baseless accusations were getting to her. And frustrated that she had to convince herself otherwise.

And then there was Tharja, who decided she wasn't going to wallow in self pity. She decided to get angry. Anali was _going_ to return Tharja's love and affection one way or another! Gods, that explained that disgusting hand hold she saw. Unacceptable!

She stomped through the halls, right to the men's bathing room. And speak of the devil, the very man she wanted had just left. As soon as the ginger haired man stepped out of the room with his old clothes in hand, Tharja pointed a finger in his direction, proclaiming, "You!"

Gaius stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder, utterly unaffected by Tharja's outburst. "Me?"

"Yes, you," the Dark Mage said crossing her arms over her chest. "You're a Thief, right? Skilled at pilfering, and stuff like that? I've got a little job for you."

"I'm listening…"

"I want you to bring me a lock of Anali's hair."

"That's… unbelievably creepy," Gaius concluded with a slight bob of the head. "What the hell do you need Bubbles' hair for?"

With shoulders hunched a thin grin on her face Tharja chuckled. "Um, yeah," said Gaius. He brushed his bangs back with one hand. "I usually don't take sinister chuckles as a legit answer. Sorry, Sunshine go find someone else with your weird little hobbies."

Tharja's thin smile turned into a hardened glare made darker by the shadows of her bangs. "This isn't a negotiable request," she declared.

"Oh? And what are you going to do about it? Curse me?"

"Yes!"

The smirk Gaius gave her was full of confidence and a smug attitude. "Like to see you try," he said crossing his arms over his chest. "Ain't a hexer alive that managed to put a curse on Gaius the Nimble. Try your best, Sunshine."

Tharja bared her teeth, her glare toward the thief intensifying. Very few people mocked her like that and came out in one piece. Fine then, challenge accepted. "You've just made your biggest mistake," she warned.

"Ooh! Scary!" Gaius said exaggerating his tone. "I'm shaking in my boots."

Oh he will be.

It was rare that Miriel went this long without a proper explanation or even a hypothesis. Quite the conundrum, really. Something was wrong, had been since the harvest the night before. She found herself _smiling_ that day, for no real reason. Miriel feared something was wrong with her.

She had stayed awake as long as possible for fear of whatever wrong would kill her in her sleep. Miriel hardly considered herself to be a hypochondriac, but one could never be too careful, and this was really starting to get to her. "Hey, Miriel," she heard.

Vaike had just emerged from the bathing room, heading towards his room, slacks on and a towel around his neck. Her heart began to beat irregularly, prompting more worry from her. "Ah, Vaike!" Miriel announce with more inflection than she probably needed. "My friend, Vaike! Hello, friend."

Vaike raised an eyebrow at this. It could have gone without say that this was very uncharacteristic for Miriel, but at least she was trying. "Eh… You don't have to call me 'friend' all the time," he said. "We can just take it as a given. Best thing about friends is bein' comfortable around each other."

"I-I see." Miriel readjusted her glasses. Why was it so warm all of the sudden? It was too late in the year for a heat wave. "I must confess, informality does not come… naturally to me."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Vaike tilted his head to the side. Surely he had to be seeing things. "You feelin' all right, Miriel?" he asked. "Is that a _blush_ I see? Don't tell me you're gettin' shy on me now!"

"S-Shy?" Miriel asked instinctively readjusting her glasses again as she spoke. "Of course not. I have never - Th-That is to say… I-I… Perhaps. If only a little."

"You sure you're feelin' all right? Never seen ya be this tongue-tied before. Or tongue-tied in general."

"N-No, it's just…" Sighing, Miriel removed her glasses to clean the lens with her sleeve. "Ever since the harvest, I haven't been eating well. I simply assumed the fault lied in the apple cider and turkey, but…" Her voice trailed off and she placed her glasses back on. "It's clearly something else. When I so much as think of you, I feel a tightness." For visual aid, she placed a hand over her chest. "Right here. Is this friendship?"

His face was red. Miriel could see it, and Vaike knew it. Of all the scenarios Vaike never thought would happen, this was definitely one of them. Oh, sure he always found women to be aesthetically pleading; Cordelia was as beautiful as they came, Anali was a handsome lass, and Tharja was a knock out. But a partnership, that sort of partnership Vaike never really considered. If it happened, great, if it never came, just as great. He was open to either choice.

Miriel though… Vaike had the overwhelming urge to impress her lately. He just wanted her to see what he was capable of, or even somehow let her know that he was following all the gobbledygook she spouted. And just now, for that brief moment when Miriel took off her glasses he just wanted her to put them back on again. It just wasn't Miriel without them. "Um…" Vaike's voice came out a little strained and he needed to clear his throat before he could continue. "Actually, what you're feelin' is a lot more serious than friendship."

"Blast! It is some form of malady! I should have known!" Miriel began to pace back and forth, pulling the rim of her hat down as she went on. "Is there a cure? Gods blast it, I must be ill if I'm asking you of all people for advice…"

Yeah that _probably_ could have been phrased much, _much_ better. Of course, Vaike didn't help the situation either. Gods this was gong to be so awkward, anyone else, no problem. But Miriel… "Actually," Vaike's voice trailed off. "I, uh, think what you're feelin' is… love. For me.."

Miriel brought a hand to her mouth, her fingers touched her lips delicately. The wheels in her head were turning, analyzing Vaike's words and what was going on in her own head. "Gracious… How… _fascinating_," she whispered. Slowly, the initial shock died, and was quickly replaced with sheer excitement. The learning possibilities this brought about. "I'd intend to research friendship, but now I can observe love in it's natural state. I must not let this opportunity pass!" Without thinking, she reached out to grasp Vaike by the hand. "You will help me in my research, yes?"

Oh, Vaike was about to put himself out there. "Eh… Look, Miriel," Vaike said placing his free hand on her shoulder. "If I'm bein' honest here, I've got feelings for you, too. Real feelings… So… yeah, I'm totally on board for your research, and not only that… Let's get hitched!"

The red haired mage gripped her chin in thought. "Do you speak of a connubial relationship?" she asked. "A blessed sacrament? _Marriage_?"

Vaike shrugged weakly. Wasn't that generally what 'getting hitched' meant? "Very well, then," said Miriel. "I suppose that would be an enthralling, zesty experience."

"I'm… just gonna assume that means yes," Vaike said, giving Miriel's hand a squeeze. It was amazing how light he felt at the moment. Like he could jump and just float away. "So what do ya say? First thing tomorrow we go out and find a ring!"

"Ah, the ring. Is it a talisman that evokes the bonds of love? Or merely a symbol of the husband's right to the wife's person or property?"

"It's just a bloomin' ring! I mean, yeah, I promise to be your husband and honor you and blah blah blah. It just make it all official-like."

Her free hand lightly touched the frames in front of her eyes. "Wouldn't a sealed and witness contract be more appropriate?"

"Well, yeah. But if ya get married, you gotta have a ring!"

"Fascinating…"

* * *

My eyes are locked on the wide rimmed hat in his hands. We were ambushed, boxed in, I shouted orders trying to remember the strategy I had devised. What I never planed on was that the Risen were crazy enough to set a dead tree on fire and pull it down. It landed right on top of Miriel. All we could find was her signature hat…

We left Vaike alone, he was as still as a statue. Chrom had looked like he wants to say something to him, but what could he say? How could any of us make it better? Outside of bringing Miriel back, we couldn't.

Oh Gods, what was Vaike going to tell him? How as he supposed to tell him that his mother was dead?

"Sh-She… probably got lost," Vaike mumbled to the hat. "Probably escaped and just got turned around."

Hugging myself, I dare to walk towards him. "Vaike don't do this," I say.

"Looking for us right now…"

"Vaike."

"Any moment now."

"Stop it!" I spit out. This was Vaike, he wasn't allowed to be this damn pathetic! "Get your head out of your ass already! Miriel's _gone_! If we're lucky, _maybe_ she died instantly, but she's not coming back."

Vaike's breathing shutter, and his shoulders shake. I had never seen Vaike like this before, he always seemed the same as ever as screwed up as things had gotten. He always had his smile, proclaiming Teach had everything under control. Even when Miriel had their son, he kept it together. Now, I seriously think he's about to start crying.

It takes me a moment to realize what's happened. Vaike throws Miriel's hat to the ground and lunges for me. His hands wrap around my neck, with our collected weight, we call to the ground. Vaike's grip on my neck tightens, I gasp for air. "You're the tactician aren't you?!" Vaike yells in my face. As he speaks my head is lifted up then slammed back onto the ground, I'm still being strangled. "You're supposed to prevent this sort of thing! Aren't you?! _AREN'T YOU?!_"

I hear Chrom shout Vaike's name, immediately he and another man I can't see run up to us. Chrom nearly tackles Vaike to the ground as the stranger grabs his opposite arm. With their collective strength they success fully force Vaike to release me, and pull him away. By the time I roll onto my side coughing, Lissa is at my side checking my neck. "I think you're bruising all ready," she says. She takes my face into her hands. "Ew, your eyes!"

My eyes? But I can see fine. My neck and head hurt, but my sight's okay. I catch sight of the end of an argument between Chrom and Vaike. The stranger watches, his hand at the ready for his decrepit sword. In the end, Vaike breaks down in Chrom's arms.

Flames erupt in front of my eyes, and I'm suddenly watching people run like ants from the fire. No, no, they _are_ ants, weak and insignificant beings, destined to have the same end. One hit from the breath of ruin and they were down for the count. Sheep lined up for the slaughter. It was those sheep that lead me to where I am now, so who am I to complain?

I see a herd of pegasi sail away from castle Ylisstol just as one of the towers collapse. Three pegasi are clearly carrying more than one person. Oh, they have made this far too easy. I feel the breath of ruin hurtle down towards the herd the third Pegasus carrying two people plummet to the ground in a blaze. I hear one of the ants scream.

Euphoria fills me. Three down, two to go.

Anali woke up with a slight jump and a ringing in her ears. Olivia was the only one left in the room, working on the braids in her hair. "Good morning!" she said giving Anali a sunny smile.

"Mornin'…" Anali murmured as she sat up. The book Frederick gave her last night slid onto her lap.

It was a history book, recollecting the last days of Akaneia and the early days of Ylisse. About Grima and Orev Ylisse, the first Exalt. Anali had read up to Orev's marriage to a Pegasus Knight called Iris. What truly surprised Anali was that Orev wasn't a descendent of the Hero-King as she originally believed, Iris was. Orev was her personal guard trusted with Akaneia's last princess, Falchion, and the Shield of Seals. Grima's rampage left the land in such despair that the continent was renamed after Orev.

While she was reading, Anali realized she may need to read up on Akaneia's history as well. A few times the book explained that many theorized that Grima was another form of a Medeus, a name that meant nothing to Anali. The book just assumed she already knew that. Was Frederick supposed to give her another book first, then give her the one on Ylissean history?

How late did Anali stay up reading? She was probably the last one to fall asleep, assuming Cordelia, who just disappeared after dinner, even came to bed. "Was Cordelia here when you woke up?" asked Anali.

Olivia shook her head. "Did she come in last night?"

"I didn't see…"

Anali bit on one of her knuckles. It was no secret that Cordelia usually went above and beyond. It had gotten to the point where Anali sometimes worried about Cordelia's health. Please say she didn't stay up all night working. "I wouldn't worry too much," Olivia said, seeing the concern on Anali's face. "I'll bet she fell asleep in the stable."

"You think?"

"Yes. They keep the stables nice and toasty it's hard not to get comfortable in there."

"You sound like you speak from experience."

Olivia's face flushed and she tried to make herself small. Immediately, Anali held her hands up. "There's nothing wrong with that," she insisted. "I should try it out sometime…"

Later Anali hurried down the streets of Ylisstol wearing some of the dingiest clothes she could find. Frost dusted the grass and window panes that morning, winter was on the horizon. It was something Anali was dreading, the cold was downright miserable.

The purple haired girl she was looking for sat at the foot of the stairs at the church, huddled against the wind in a worn out old shawl. Her baskets were placed in front of her, with a small basket for whatever little money she could scrounge up. "Ofelia," Anali said, taking a seat beside her. "You always sell these at the church?"

"Not always," said Ofelia. "But usually. The B-Bishop doesn't mind and his wife c-comes out to talk to me and gives me a bit of food for the k-k-kids and I."

"You think they'd mind talking to me?"

"N-No…"

"Do I make you nervous?"

Ofelia fell silent, answering Anali's question. Of course she made her nervous, from Ofelia's perspective Anali must have been a servant of Naga herself. It wasn't exactly wrong. "It's not you p-personally." Ofelia hugged herself. "I-I worked as a servant girl a while back, and my m-m-m-masters weren't kind. While c-cleaning the floor I'd s-spilt the water bucket, I was denied food. Th-They were having a p-party and I was caught stealing g-grapes, they hit m-me for it, s-so…"

Anali nodded slowly in acknowledgement. She had a pretty good idea what happened next. She asked, "Where you there long? Born there?"

The purple haired girl shook her head. "M-M-Mother and father d-died in the first war on P-Plegia," she explained. "I-I was there for about t-t-two years, then I met U-Una and Tristran." Shivering, Ofelia looked up at Anali. "W-W-W-Why are you interested in u-us?"

She exhaled through her nose and tilted her head to the side. "Just hoping to give others the kindness I was given," replied Anali.

The nights of Plegia were always cold, and had became downright freezing with the change of seasons. A hooded assassin with a metal mask that covered the lower half of his face sprinted across the capital streets. It amazed him how well the country picked itself up after Gangrel's death. The assassin imagined that his own people wanted to end the bloodshed as much as Ylisse did. The election for their new ruler was at its peek, and it looked like the peoples choice would win by a landslide. Poor saps had no clue the wool was being pulled right over their eyes.

Once at his destination, a darkened temple, he lowered his hood and removed his mask. "Well?" Validar snipped upon his arrival. "Have you any news?"

The assassin looked to the side at the tall gangly man. "It's as she said," said the assassin. "Chrom of Ylisse will be marrying his tactician by January."

"And you doubted me, little boy," the low sultry voice of Validar's cohort said, striding up to the assassin. "Aren't you happy you actually get to see the wedding in this world?"

The assassin simply stared at girl, the puppet master who just loved to dangle grim information above his head. "I'm older than you," the assassin said stupidly.

Scoffing, the girl plucked a strand of hair off the assassin's head. "If you want to be technical, that's true in this world," she said. "But if you're splitting hairs _I've_ lived longer than you ever did."

In a flash the assassin pulled out his blade, but was struck in the chest by Validar's dark magic. The assassin doubled over in pain, clutching his chest in an attempt to sooth himself. "Insolence!" snapped Validar. "I should have your head for even daring to-!"

"Don't break him, Validar," said the girl. "He's fun to have around."

The assassin forced himself onto his feet, his hand still gripped the fabric of his tunic over his chest. He looked at Validar and the girl with a hateful look his in eyes. "What's all this going to do to the tactician?" he asked. "You're actually going to force her to-"

"We are not _forcing_ anything," said Validar. "We're steering destiny on course. And destiny says the little Exalt must die."

"But-"

"Aw, someone's getting sympathetic," the girl said mockingly. "Don't worry you little head over it. Once fate is secure, Anali won't remember she ever loved him."

* * *

**Authors Note:** In which Chrom makes it clear that his resolve to marry Anali will not change, Frederick gives Anali a vote of confidence, and decides to plan the wedding (oh, come on we all know Frederick would do that). Cordelia goes off to cry while Tharja just gets angry, Gaius makes an enemy, and Liam has his own way of being kind. Vaike and Miriel decided to get hitched, while Anali has another dream (and we get the vaguest hint of someone they haven't met yet), we learn a little about the transition from Akaneia to Ylisse (yeah, everyone wanted a sequel to Awakening, I want a prequel). Anali seems to be planning something. And hey, the masked assassin guy is back! Maybe next time he decides to be traitorous he'll actually say something helpful.

Yes, Ofelia's stuttering is a speech impediment.

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	20. Chapter Twenty

**Chapter Twenty  
Transition**

December rolled around in the blink of an eye, bringing with it fridged winds and icy roads. For weeks the people of Ylisse gossiped about Exalt Chrom and the tactician he intended on taking as his wife. The excitement and concerns were tossed around back and forth.

"A royal wedding! How exciting!"

"But they say the Exalts intended is _Plegian_."

"Yes, _and_?"

"I heard Exalt Chrom found her, sole survivor, in a battlefield."

"I heard she was caught massacring a theater troupe caravan."

"Now _that's_ a gross exaggeration. If that was the case, Exalts Emmeryn and Chrom would have _never_ allowed her into the Shepherds, let alone make her their tactician."

"But she is Plegian?"

"Oh! Haven't we moved past all that?!"

"Agreed."

Anali was caught in a tide that threatened to drag her out in several different directions at once. There were her history lessons, wedding planning with Frederick, and etiquette with Maribelle. Now nearing the wedding Anali was working with the seamstress for her wedding dress design and her fitting.

Within a few days Anali was to move into the Princess Suite, the room usually reserved for the intendeds of the royal family before their wedding night. Which meant that the last time it was used was when Silvia was preparing to marry Calhoun. In a way, it was the closest Anali would ever get to her mother-in-law.

"Exalt Jacin lead the frontlines in the Lunar Battle, and successfully removed General Golfimbul's head from his neck," Anali said, reviewing her most recent history lesson with Frederick. "The head landed in a rabbit hole, both winning the battle and inventing the game of golf at the same time."

Frederick gave her a curt nod. "Excellent. Now why was this called the Lunar Battle."

"Because it took place under a blue moon. Can I go now?"

"Only if you can tell me who was Exalt Jacin's predecessor and successor."

After that, Anali slammed her head onto the desk. Her head was swimming with so many names and dates they developed into one huge moshpot. Perhaps that's just what happened when one person tried to memorize a thousand years worth of history in two months.

"Aren't we supposed to go over wedding details with Chrom?" she asked desperately.

"Yes. And the sooner you give me the correct answer, the sooner we can go meet him."

Anali sighed and replied with, "Exalt Maxon was the predecessor of Exalt Jacin, while his successor was Exalt Ahren."

It was Frederick's retreating figure that told her he was satisfied with the answer. Anali got up and chased after him with such a force that it almost knocked over the chair. Chrom was already waiting for them in the meeting room. Sketches were hung up on the walls while papers covered the table. Chrom was reading over one of them by the time they walked in.

Frederick, and Sumia, had come up with a plethora of rough ideas to decorate the wedding and banquet halls. Anali leaned towards the ones that tried to simulate winter indoors. The whole meeting was just Anali and Frederick going back and forth deciding which ideas worked out best. Chrom, on the other hand, just pretended he understood what they were talking about and nodded when spoken to. His idea of a perfect wedding was just the two of them, their friends, the alter and the priest performing the service, who happened to be Libra.

When they made their engagement announcement the original plan was just to have the local priest, or bishop marry them. But, the minute he got the couple alone, Libra offered to do it himself. Anali was opposed to it at first, he was a guest, one of their friends. Libra, however, just smiled kindly and asked in return, "All the more reason to have me perform the service, no?"

With those words and the smile he gave her Anali found it increasingly difficult to turn down his offer. It may have hurt him otherwise.

"Oh, where did the time go?" Chrom asked after a good twenty minutes. He stood up and planted a brief kiss on Anali's cheek "I told Sully I'd have a quick spar with her."

"That doesn't seem like a calculated move at all," Anali said inquisitively.

"What? No, it's just lousy timing. You can fill me in on everything later, can't you?"

"Sure. Go, have fun."

Smiling, Chrom gave Anali one last kiss on her temple before he left the room. As soon as the door closed Frederick flicked his brow and let out a, "Hm. He stayed longer than I thought."

"Yeah." Anali smiled. "But he's trying."

Frederick balled a hand up in front of his mouth and cleared his throat. "Now, back to the matter at hand," he said. "As I was saying, you can expect the royal wedding to happen just as any other."

"Oh, really?" Anali asked dully. "Any other wedding involves high security?"

"You know very well what I mean. We usually have the bride's family sit on one side, the groom's family on the other. However, given your circumstances we can just have everyone mingle. As such, the father of the bride usually walks her down the aisle however-"

"Can you do it?" she blurted out without thinking.

"Pardon?!" Frederick's voice raised a couple of octaves.

Anali wasn't quite sure what possessed her to ask that of Frederick. He was hardly old enough to be her father, Gregor could probably pass as her parent. But Frederick may as well have been considered a part of the family; Emmeryn must have considered it, even if she never said so. Add to the fact that Frederick came to Anali's defense against the council when the engagement was 'announced,' it did seem natural to have Frederick walk her down the aisle.

"C-Can you do it?" Anali repeated. "Will you do it?"

A splash of crimson appeared on Fredericks face, an action Anali thought only his wife was capable of. "S-Surely there's someone else just as capable for the job," Frederick said, turning his head away from her as he spoke.

Under the table, Anali began fiddling with her fingers. Yes, there were others who could fill in the role; Gregor, who first noticed and identified Anali's infection, Stahl who was willing to do anything for a friend, Gaius… well, Gaius… he would ask for cake… But it just clicked with Frederick. "I'm sure Chrom would appreciate it," Anali added quietly.

Frederick's sweat ran cold, the professional, well-mannered knight that tended to leak into his personality more often than naught told him that this was improper. Anali was to become Chrom's wife; queen consort. But she was also his wife's friend… _his_ friend. Was it improper, or just doing something important for a friend? "I would be honored, milady," he said finally.

Anali's eyes snapped open in awe of the Great Knight who once made his distrust of her painfully obvious. "I knew it," she said before leaping out of her chair to hug him. "You really are a big softy, Freddy-bear!"

The snow prematurely ended Chrom's sparring match against Sully. They had planned the match for old times sake, but at this time of year, timing was everything. The snow had made it difficult for either of them to keep their footing. Chrom had bashed Falchion into the wall, taking out a couple of bricks when he removed the blade. The sad thing was, it was far from the first time it happened. There was an entire section of the wall dedicated to Chrom that he was allowed to bash. The bricks were crumbling, and it had repairs done to it more than once over the years but with little to show for it.

So, when the snow became too heavy, the match they wanted to squeeze in before the wedding was postponed and they turned into the garrison. A layer of snow covered their hair and shoulders, and they ended up dragging in snow. "Gods, we need an indoor arena like castle Ferox," sighed Sully. "Someone's gonna snap their neck slipping on snow one of these days."

Chuckling to himself, Chrom removed his outdoor cloak to hang it up; it was thick and warm, but it was a wonder Chrom could actually move around in it. If it wasn't the snow that killed them, it would have been the precautions to keep warm. "Are you offering to start fundraising for it?" he asked.

With a 'heh' Sully's full lips pulled back into a playful smirk. "That's a laugh coming from you, Mr. Exalt."

"I've been busy lately. I've got a country to run and a wedding to plan."

"Ah, yeah." The redhead playfully punched Chrom on the arm. "The hell you sparrin' with me for then, eh? Can't ruin that pretty face of yours before the big day."

"Eh… yeah…" Chrom's smile faltered slightly. The memory of a rain filled battlefield, and Anali's fearful expression came back to him all at once. His attack that day had left a scar on her face, starting just a few inches below her eye. By some miracle Chrom had missed her eye entirely, that she could still see out of that eye at all. It could have been worse, it could have been so much worse.

"What're you thinking?" asked Sully.

Chrom shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts than to tell Sully anything. "What are _you_ thinking?"

Sully's haughty smile slowly turned bittersweet. "That everything's going to change next year," she said. "Not to say that things didn't change _this_ year, but…"

The Exalt returned Sully's bittersweet smile with one of his own. Yes, a lot of things did change this year, all of it starting the day he saw Anali in the field. For better or worse this past year bought upon many changes, and more were just over the horizon. But these were good changes, even if they came with the stupid arguments, Chrom was willing, more than willing to take everyone of them than never have them at all. "I'm gonna be honest here." Sully rubbed the back of her neck and said, "I'm a little worried about… this…"

She circled one hand around as she gestured to Chrom. "Not because of Anali _personally_," Sully stressed. "I mean, yeah I had my concerns about her at first, and if I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have threatened her."

"Wait, what?" asked Chrom. When did this happen? This was the first Chrom ever heard about it. "You _threatened_ her?"

Sully waved it off. "It was nothing that bad," she insisted. "Just made my point across, then we were as civilized as civil can be. What I'm trying to say is that I'm concerned about Anali's _family_."

His brow creased. Anali's family? "Why would her family, given that they're still even alive, be an issue?" asked Chrom. "If we can find Anali's family, isn't that a good thing?"

"I know, I know! How do I say this?" Sully asked, thinking out loud. Rolling her eyes towards the ceiling she thought for a moment. A triumphant smile formed on her lips as she snapped her fingers. "Okay, the way I see it Anali has the Mark of Grima on her hand, that has to mean she was someone important in the Grimleal. I don't know what happened to her before you found her, maybe she tried to leave, something happened, then you found her. But that mark has to mean that Anali comes from a family of fanatics, and what's going to happen if they come looking for her?"

Chrom opened his mouth to argue, but no point came out. In truth the mark on Anali's hand was never an issue to him. She was never _against_ them, always _with_ them. She had proven that she wasn't a threat more than once. But what Sully was saying did make a bit of sense. None of them had ever heard about any of the Grimleal bearing the sigil on their bodies, mostly on their clothing, but body art had to have some meaning in their religion. It could have meant that Anali was a priestess of sorts.

Sully bit her lower lip, she could see Chrom was beginning to piece together the meaning behind her words. Unfortunately, she wasn't done. "I'm just worried," she said. "If her family finally comes to get her, will that ignite another conflict with Plegia?"

And there was another thought that never crossed Chrom's mind. He never thought about the implications behind her Grimleal origins. Oh, yes of course, her _Plegian_ origins were an issue, hell one of the council's biggest complaints were her Plegian roots. But her connections to the Grimleal, and what would happen if her family returned never crossed his mind.

Slowly, Chrom shook his head. "Anali's certain her family is dead," he explained. "She won't say it outloud but…"

"And the Grimleal in general?"

"Sully, how long were we in Plegia during the war? If they were looking for her, they would have made themselves known by now."

"Look I'm not saying any of this because I dislike Anali, or because I think she's wrong for you," Sully said, waving her hand in circles as she spoke. "I'm just worried about the people in her past."

Chrom smiled slightly, "I thank you for your concern, Sully. It warms my heart to know you're still looking out for me."

Rolling her eyes, Sully swatted Chrom in the arm. "Well, someone's gotta when Anali and Frederick aren't looking."

Chrom pouted playfully. "Between the three of you and Vaike you'd think I couldn't dress myself in the morning."

"Eh, I've seen you eat an orange with it's peel on before."

"One time, Sully! One time!"

But Chrom's arguments were drowned out by Sully's laughter.

* * *

Anali was forced to sit with her back straight thanks to the scarf wrapped from shoulder to shoulder, tied to the chair. She tried to reach for the tea cup but thanks to the scarf forcing her to keep a straight posture the table was just barely out of reach.

The wedding was three weeks away, and Maribelle was really ragging on Anali about her improper posture. "Maribelle," Anali looked across the table to see the blonde in pink, "I'm pretty sure tying someone to their chair isn't proper etiquette."

"It's a training tool, darling," said Maribelle. "Hopefully you will be able to keep your back straight on your own before the wedding."

On the one hand, Anali wasn't sure how necessary proper posture was. But on the other hand if she could pull a fast one on the council and show she could be a lady then it would be more than worth it.

At long last, Anali managed to take the cup into her hands and tried to, demurely as possible, take a sip from it. Her brow rose when the taste of cherries washed over her tongue. "Oh," she gasped.

"Yes, yes," Maribelle said, sounding pleased with herself. "Don't think I didn't notice how you gravitate towards the cherry blends. A bit of a common flavor if you ask me, but it is popular in parts of Valm, so what can you do? I thought it would make your lesson a bit easier."

"Oh… Still it was sweet of you to prepare my, apparent, favorite blend. Thank you."

"Quite welcome, dear."

Anali took another sip. "Well, what's your favorite blend, then?" she asked. "Let's have that next time."

"That's kind of you," said Maribelle. "But I'm afraid my favorite is a bit of a required taste."

"I'm sure I can get used to it." She squirmed in her chair as best as she could with her restrictions. "I can take it. Tell me. Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"Well…" Maribelle said slowly. "If you are honestly sure."

Letting out a little squee for her victory Anali took another sip of tea. "My favorite blend," began Maribelle. "Is black tea infused with the still-warm blood of a male grizzly bear."

Anali's body shuttered, and the hot beverage nearly went down the wrong pipe. Coughing, the tea came back out it dripped down her front, soiling her tunic. Maribelle shot to her feet, she hurried up to Anali's side and removed the scarf that kept her at bay. Quickly, Maribelle took the cup and saucer from Anali and placed them onto the table as the tactician still coughed. "Oh, dear," Maribelle said, more to herself than to Anali. "Why does this always happen when I try to jest with others?"

"You were… joking?" Anali asked, clearing her throat in between. "Oh, thank the gods! I thought you were an utter psycho for a minute!"

"Oh, tell me what you really think!" snapped Maribelle. Sighing, she brought the tips of her fingers to the side of her head. "I suppose it serves me right for that. I should have realized I'd get a similar reaction after I tried that on Lissa."

The next day Anali hid in Falkor's stable. After several busy, busy days Anali was just screaming for a little peace and quiet. Hopefully things wouldn't be this busy after the wedding, but if it was, Falkor would probably be her go-too hiding spot for the winter, he kept her quite warm as she snuggled at his side to read. "So, it says here that the gestation period of a griffon is eleven months," Anali looked up at her feathered friend. "I think I'd go crazy if that were me."

The griffon let out an indifferent trill before he went back to preening his wing on Anali's opposite side. Anali never realized the griffon's preened until she started hiding with Falkor, but it made a lot of sense. Did pegasi preen themselves? They had to if they wanted to keep their wings cared for. Perhaps sleeping in the stables could be a learning experience.

"Hey you!"

The Tactician screamed, surprised by the sudden voice and the opening of the stable door. Tybalt wrapped an arm around his waist, laughing while his other hand was braced against the doorframe. "Sorry, sorry," he wheezed out. "I saw your footprints in the snow and I couldn't resist!"

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" snapped Anali.

"I apologized, didn't I?"

"What do you want?"

With a sigh, Tybalt calmed down and ran a hand through his pink bangs. As though nothing had happened not a minute ago, he stood up straight with his hands behind his back. "Khan Flavia arrived less than an hour ago," he told her. "She said she did not plan on staying long, but did say that she had some business to discuss."

Anali's brow rose when she heard this. Flavia? Here? The worse case scenario ran through her head; something had come up and the East Khan needed assistance. If that was the case it must have been really bad to warrant Flavia's personal arrival. "What happened?" Anali asked immediately. "Does Chrom know? Where are they?"

The Griffon Rider held up one finger to silence her. "Believe it or not… she's just here to see you."

"What?" the tactician asked instantly. "Why?"

He shrugged. "She's waiting for you in the library."

Which was better or worse; the fact that Flavia was waiting in such a casual setting, or the fact that she arrived un announced? The casual setting suggested that it was just a visit, but why did Flavia want to see Anali? She wasn't exactly in a position of power, at least not when it came to politics. Well, not yet anyway.

In the library, Anali found Flavia seated at the table, her arms folded together and her legs were crossed. "Nice place," Flavia said upon seeing Anali. "Very welcoming. And you've got excellent service here, if I might add. Mind if we switch places?"

And Anali could only reply with a brilliant and dignified, "Uhhhh…"

"Yeah, you're right, everyone would realize something was up pretty quick."

"I-I-I was told you wanted to see me?"

"Mmm, yes." Flavia looked up at Anali and gestured to the empty chair beside her. In her haste, the chair squeaked when Anali pulled her seat out. When she sat down, the East Khan laced her fingers together, and gave Anali a sideways glare. "Now, what's this I hear about you and Chrom getting married without inviting the oaf and me?"

Anali gasped, "What?! You mean you never-"

That couldn't be right, Anali was sure they sent out invitations to both of the Khans. They were the only two with any sort of political power that Chrom and Anali _genuinely_ wanted as their guest. The councilmen were sure to be there, including Sumia, Tybalt, Ricken, and Maribelle's families, it was going to be a mixed bag of opinions and judgmental glares.

But, to Anali's relief and confusion, a smile broke out upon Flavia's face and she clapped Anali, painfully, on the shoulder. "I'm kidding," she said. "I got the invite back in November."

Anali winced, why did Flavia always do that? "Though…" Flavia leaned back in her seat. "It got me thinking about a few things."

"Oh?" Anali inquired. "How so?"

"You've got a pretty tight knit group, you know. This camaraderie you've got can be downright contagious at times." Flavia smiled ruefully. "You talk about a lot of things, but then we get to your pasts and families. You look so lonely when that happens."

Anali avoided Flavia's gaze. Yes, it hurt. It always hurt when her friends shared memories about their families. It hurt when Kellam announced the other day that he was an uncle. It hurt to see Donnel write and send money to his Ma. It always hurt that Anali was becoming increasingly sure that her family was dead. That or she was just that terrible a person before she met Chrom.

"I didn't really have much of a family myself," Flavia continued with a slight shrug. "It was just my mother and me growing up, my father could be gone for days on end, serving the East Khan of the time. I got a bit lonely at times when they were both busy."

Flavia smiled bittersweetly at the thought. Reaching under the table, she pulled out several sheets of paper and slid them across the table to Anali. "I've been thinking about extending my family."

Confused, Anali took the sheets into her hands and read them over. They raised more questions than they answered. Surely Anali could not be reading this right. Or maybe Flavia just got the documents mixed up. "These are adoption papers…" she said.

"That they are," Flavia said with a nod and a smile. "And all they need is your signature and by this time next week you'll be the younger sister of Khan Flavia Alexandrov. Through adoption, of course."

Anali felt her mouth fall open slightly. Flavia wanted her as her adopted sister? Her, some girl who only found herself where she was now because she passed out at the right place and was found at the right time. Someone who had no family background. Someone who bore the mark signifying her as Grimleal. "I-I don't…" Anali struggled to find her voice. "Why me?"

It was not that Anali wasn't touched by the offer. Far from it, she could feel the tears build up behind her eyes, she could feel the euphoria bubble up inside her. "I told you," said Flavia. "You're surrounded by friends, but you still look lonely amongst them. Friends like that are good to have, no doubt, but it's still not quite that familial bond that's there no matter what. I just thought we could be that for each other. And I had hoped we could do this before your wedding and have _someone_ sitting on the bride's side."

That did it for Anali, that broke the damns and the tears flowed out. She wanted to say, _'Yes, yes! I would be honored to call you my sister!' _but all that came out was ugly, incoherent sobs. In theory she was smiling, but given the tears and mucus sliding out of her eyes and nose, it may have been easy to mistake it for something else. "Pull yourself together, Anali," said Flavia. She got up, rounded the table, and wrapped her arms around Anali's shoulders, pulling her into her chest. "Let's wait for you to calm down before we sign anything."

Anali managed a nod. She wanted to sign it as soon as possible, but she could hardly see through her tears. Her sobs were so loud Anali never heard the door open, or the footsteps in the room until she heard, "I'm sorry, Flavia, I know you wanted to see Anali, but- Uh…"

Chrom had hurried into the room, but stopped in his tracks at the sight before him. He wasn't sure what to make of a any woman crying this much, much less Anali. And then there was Flavia being downright _motherly_ towards the crying Anali. "Uh…"

"What?" Flavia challenged. "Never see a woman comfort her sister?"

The blue haired man blinked. "What?"

When Anali calmed down enough she signed the documents. Flavia returned to Ferox the next morning, and within a week it was official; Anali was legally Flavia's younger sister, and she would be recognized as such the next time she visited Ferox. It wasn't the full package, it wasn't the mother, father, brother, sister and the dog, but it was enough for Anali. It was more, much more than what Anali started with.

Chrom accepted the notion, almost encouraged it even. But he did have his concerns. Namely the fact that Flavia, the reigning Khan of Regna Ferox, was adopting a young woman from Plegia, who happens to serve Ylisse, and is marrying into its royal family. It was a bit of a moshpot when one sat down to think about it. "After everything we've all been through, you think that's going to be an issue?" Flavia asked through a roar of laughter. "Come on, little brother, you fought for my full control over Ferox. You should know better than that."

Anali had to cover her mouth when she saw Chrom suck in a breath. He had just realized what the adoption would mean for him.

Flavia was going to become his sister-in-law now.

* * *

Anna and her sisters may drive hard bargains, but it certainly seemed like they had everything even a well-kept secondhand harp. Although, upon trying to bring it back to the garrison, Stahl wished he had taken the merchant Anna upon her offer for help. The harp he purchased was heavy, and he knew string instruments needed to be insolated when faced with the cold climate. He had hoped that the blanket draped over it helped, which probably did, but Stahl did not exactly count on the harp being so heavy.

"Need a hand?" he heard someone say from behind him as the weight of the harp lessened.

Stahl peered over his shoulder to find Cordelia with a smile bright enough to warm the coldest winter day. "Oh, yes thank you," Stahl said, quickly readjusting his grip on the covered instrument.

"If you don't mind me prying," Cordelia said, following Stahl into the garrison. "I do believe this is a harp. I had no idea you played."

"I'm still a bit of a newbie," he confessed. "I've been working with my teacher's old one, saw this in the market, and I couldn't resist."

"Ooh, your teacher?" she asked, completely intrigued. "Anyone I know?"

"Just a friend."

"Well, it sounds like someone's itching to play a duet."

"Ah-hah," Stahl laughed weakly, a pink blush appeared on his cheeks. Hopefully he could blame it on the elements. "I think I still need a little more time."

"If you think so I wouldn't want to push when you weren't ready."

"The spring?" the pair heard as they turned the corner. "You're sure?"

"Yes," said Liam. "I know you hate the cold. It might put a damper on wedding anniversaries."

Stahl placed the harp onto the floor then placed a finger to his lips. The two of them peeked over the corner to find Liam speaking with one of the maids. She was a pretty thing, petite, tanned skin, watery-blue hair in a pixie-cut, and brilliant blue eyes flaked with gold. The maid had a bright, sunny smile in her face, and her brilliant eyes had a shine to them as she threw her arms around Liam's neck. "We're really going to have a wedding date?" she asked, forcing Liam to back into the wall as he held her.

"We have a rough idea," he corrected gently. He pushed the girl's bangs back and pressed his lips to her forehead. "I'll speak to Libra after Chrom and Anali's wedding, see if he can do it for us, and we can go from there."

Giggling, the girl took Liam by the hands. "You have to introduce everyone to me" she said happily. "Please, Liam, please!"

The Bard's face twisted slightly as he thought about it. "Sure," he said through an exhale. "I suppose it's about time, anyway."

Squealing, the maid dragged Liam down the hall. Stahl rubbed his chin as he let out a low whistle. "Guess the rumors about Liam were true," he said as though in thought. "Well, good for him."

Cordelia's good mood dissipated at the sight of the Bard. His words still taunted her, and she wanted to slap that smug smile off his face when he called her love a farce. But it always ended with Cordelia trying to convince herself that Liam's words rang false. She vaguely remembered that Liam implied that someone pinned for her, but at the time she ached too much to care. Now, weeks after that horrible night Cordelia could not find it in her to be happy for Liam, and she hoped that poor maid had better taste.

"Yeah," she muttered, trying to hide her anger.

Liam had love when Cordelia couldn't get her hearts desire to look twice in her direction. That stuck of arse of a Bard had a pretty maiden, yet someone like her could never have the man she yearned for? How was that fair? Were the gods really that cruel?

Shaking her head of such melancholy thoughts Cordelia readjusted her grip on Stahl's harp, and she continued to help him lug it beside hers in a spare room. With both instruments a safe distance across from each other, Cordelia placed her hands on her hips. "They certainly look good together," she told Stahl with a bold grin. "I can't wait to hear how they sound."

"Hopefully we can try playing together in the spring at the earliest," said Stahl.

"I must confess, Stahl, I never really pictured you as a musician. What brought this about? Trying to impress someone?"

A deep blush appeared on Stahl's face as he rubbed the back of his neck. He let out a weak laugh, "I guess you could say that…"

Giggling, Cordelia gave the olive-haired man a gentle smile. "Don't worry, I won't pry any further."

"Eeee!"

_Thunk! Thunk!_

The pair hurried outside the spare room to find the Shepherd's tactician, a rucksack and messenger bag over her shoulders and a collection of books on the floor. "You all right there, Anali?" asked Stahl.

"I think I bit off more than I can chew…" Anali said weakly.

"So you're moving out now?" Cordelia asked, equally disappointed and hopeful.

"Yeah," nodded Anali. "Not much longer, after all."

"Here let me help." Stahl crouched down to collect the books off the floor. He looked back up at the red-haired Pegasus Knight. "Cordelia…?"

Cordelia flinched slightly, beads of sweat began to form on her brow. "A-Actually, I have somewhere I have to be," she said quickly. "I… should go now."

Instantly, Cordelia turned on her heel and hustled out of view. Anali watched her with a furrowed brow. Why did it seem like Cordelia couldn't get out fast enough whenever Anali was in the room lately? Whenever Anali tried to talk to her, Cordelia made up some excuse to leave as soon as possible. During lights out, Cordelia was the first one in bed, usually ignoring everyone around her. "Have I done something to offend?" asked Anali.

Stahl winced slightly. The situation had gotten kind of lousy, but was there really a nice way of saying, _'Oh, it's just that you're getting married to the man she's head over heels for. Yeah, I realize it takes two, but, let's be honest, it'seasier for her to be mad at you.'_ Yup, that would certainly blow over well.

Cordelia berated herself for leaving like that. What was wrong with her? Anali was not an idiot, she knew that something had changed since the engagement was announced. And now, with the wedding day fast approaching, Cordelia was seriously considering the thought of just not going. How could Cordelia even consider such a thing? What kind of a friend would she be if she wasn't there for Anali's wedding?

When Anali and Stahl brought the last of her belongings to the Princess Suite, Frederick, and a young woman wearing a pink bonnet were waiting. The girl introduced herself as Marlee, she was about Anali's age, which could have been anywhere from eighteen to twenty. Freckles dusted Marlee's cheeks, and one could see blonde hair peeking out from under her bonnet. Her eyes were blue, and she wore an earthy colored dress with a short sleeved jacket over it.

Marlee was to be Anali's personal maid, her personal, almost-but-heavily-toned-down-Frederick. As soon as they were alone Marlee took one of Anali's hands into both of her own, and shook, hard. "Lady Anali," Marlee said with a tooth-bearing grin. "I have to say, it's an honor to meet you finally, I've heard so much about the Shepherd's master tactician, my coworkers and I've been following your work since the Farfort!"

Anali was a little taken aback by this. Marlee had spoken so quickly she needed a moment to absorb it all, and she seemed so eager to please Anali wasn't sure what to make of it. Was this just how Marlee was? Had to be, this sort of personality did not exactly just pop up overnight. Either way, it was a little awkward. As of right now, Anali couldn't tell if all this was necessary, but she couldn't very was tell Marlee that her services were unwanted. She couldn't tell her to leave her alone, that Anali could handle everything herself. It seemed more insulting than kind, serving _was_ Marlee's job, this was what she was paid for.

On the other hand, who knew? Maybe Anali would need a confidant when she was queen. Just someone who could help her wind down after a very long day. "Okay," Anali said clapping her hands together. "Marlee, why don't we have a cup of tea? I've got a fitting in an hour or so, so we'll have a little time to talk."

Marlee's brow knitted together. "Talk" she repeated.

"Yeah. Tell me a bit about yourself, you know?"

Slowly, it dawned on Marlee just what Anali was asking of her. Over a couple cups of cherry tea, Marlee proved to be a chatterbox who could change the subject about three times before going back to her original point. "Well, you know I still live with my parents, they're pretty close to the castle, right smack down in the middle of the market place, have you ever tried the honey cakes the baker makes? I could just eat those all day everyday, not that I live anywhere near the baker, but still. Mother makes wool, ichy stuff, don't really care for it but it keeps you warm, and Father's a fisher. Have you been fishing before? I'm always okay with it until I have to take the thing off the hook. Yeesh! I never imagined I'd be a palace maid, I know there's better positions, but it's such an honor and the pay is amazing! My parents wanted me to leave after Lady Emmeryn was captured, and I almost did, but there were people I wanted to see were okay, and in the end I just couldn't. And look at me now, personal maid to the Queen!"

"I'm not queen yet," said Anali. She was so bewildered by Marlee's story, how fast she spoke without so much as fumbling, Anali never even took a sip of her tea.

"_Almost_, though," Marlee stressed. "Less than a fortnight, milady."

"Marlee, when it's just you and me it's okay to call me Anali."

"Oh, I couldn't, that'd be improper."

Anali waved her hand. "Nonsense. I need the normality, you know how much I freaked out when Frederick first called me 'milady.'"

Marlee smile slightly. "I suppose."

A knock was heard at the door and the seamstress let herself in. With her new position, Anali was going to be in need of a new 'casual' look. Even casual would look mighty fine, but if Anali wasn't going for the one-sleeved onesie Chrom favored, she was happy.

Olivia always liked stepping in clean patches of snow, and she liked Ylisse winters. This was camping weather compared to Ferox winters, but she still wore a cloak outside. She was more resilient to the cold than others, but not a death seeker. It was the grunting caught her attention. Peeking around the corner, Olivia found Lon'qu, still trying to slice through a water flask, and once more it shattered. "Oh, Lon'qu, you almost had it that time!" Olivia said, hurrying up to him. While she had her cloak on, Lon'qu went without anything over his clothes to protect him from the elements. Although if anyone in this army could do such a thing, it was him.

"You call that close?" he questioned. "I call it pathetic. Bah! I'll never be a match for Basilio, let alone his better-"

Olivia held a hand in front of her chest. "Have you forgotten what Basilio said?" she asked.

"That I'm a genius? His greatest rival?" the Myrmidon ranted, using his hand to talk with him. "Empty words, designed for flattery. I have talent, but I lack the true heart of a warrior. _That_ is his meaning!"

"That's not true at all!" Olivia shouted, as loudly as Olivia _could_. "You _will_ become his rival someday. You mustn't give up like this, Lon'qu!"

With her conviction like that, he almost believed her. But Olivia seemed like the kind of girl to see the best in just about everyone. Hopefully she never lost that. However Lon'qu could never have the heart of a warrior if he was brought down by a woman standing close. That was how he lost to Marth. "I understand why I cannot cleave the flask," he said calmly as he sheathed his sword. "I have speed and power, but my heart is weak and irresolute. Without courage and conviction of purpose, my blade wavers and shatters the flask."

Olivia tilted her head to the side, not quite understanding. "Em… okay?"

"I know this, yet I remain powerless to cure myself. Especially in your presence!" Lon'qu finished, gesturing to Olivia.

Ah, yes. While Olivia knew full well of Lon'qu's skill as a swordsman, and knew he should have been well respected for it, he was rather infamous for his fear of women. He never made a full on spectacle of himself, just always froze up. At the worse, he would shout at them to stay away. Olivia felt her lips purse as she thought. There must have been a simple solution to all of this. "I've got an idea!" she declared before grabbing his hand.

"What are you doing?" Lon'qu spat out. He tried to retract his arm back, but all that did was make Olivia use both hands. "Release me! Now!"

"Just breath, Lon'qu," Olivia said softly. With her eyes closed she took in a deep, calming breath in and out, repeating the process a few times. "Let the tension flow from your body…" Opening her eyes, she smiled at him sweetly. "I know you can do it, Lon'qu! I believe in you!"

His face turned red. How did she do it? Did she always have this calming effect on everyone? Lon'qu was always aware of Olivia and her place in Basilio's life. She adored the man as a daughter would her father, and Olivia was clearly aware of Lon'qu in return; they had only officially met after their failed attempt at rescuing Lady Emmeryn. But he had seen her dance before in the shadows. Lon'qu's problems were always miles away when he saw her on stage dancing. He always believed it was because Olivia was dancing, wasn't that what Dancers did, boost morale?

But now, with her holding his hand like this, encouraging him, his problems may as well have been in another world entirely. Had Lon'qu been mistaken? Was it Olivia _herself _that always calmed him and not her dancing?

Quickly, Olivia snatched her hands back and rubbed the palms against her cloak. "I'm sorry," she murmured, avoiding eye contact with him. "I didn't mean to be so… eh… sweaty. How embarrassing…"

What? "I hardly noticed, distracted by the terrible experience," Lon'qu replied. His head was turned to the side, willing the blush on his face to just disappear. "However, I hear what you say. I will not be giving up that easily."

The pink haired woman hopped in place happily. "That's the spirit!" she cheered. "I believe in you, and I know you'll make Basilio proud!"

"I fear we shall see at another time."

"Huh?"

"I am on kitchen duty tonight, and I should begin now before the dinner rush."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Olivia squeaked as she stepped to the side. "I won't keep you any longer."

"You haven't been keeping me," Lon'qu murmured as he strode past her.

The Dancer girl fiddled with her fingers as Lon'qu walked back inside the garrison, smiling to herself all the while. It amazed her how easily she could speak to him. She was always shy around new, and powerful people, but Olivia found that it took a little more time for her to get used to speaking to a new man in her life. Perhaps, in Lon'qu's case, it was because she already knew him through Basilio. She knew that he was very fond of the knish, a Feroxi potato snack, she knew he was originally from Chon'sin, she knew he was the most comfortable with a sword close by, and that his birthday was in October.

But grabbing his hand like that, that was a little bold for her; yet it was as easy as grabbing a drink off the table. The strange thing was how safe she felt in the battlefield, just knowing Lon'qu was out there, too. He did not need to be there at her side, he just needed to be there, and Olivia knew everything would turn out okay.

Feeling warm and bubbly, Olivia could not help but release a brief laugh before she went on walking through the clean snow.

There was a clear distinction between those in the Shepherds who could tolerate the cold, and those who did not; Tharja fell into the latter category. Living in the deserts of Plegia for nineteen years would do that to a person. Her usual formfitting uniform had been traded in for a thick cloak she rarely took off during the day.

The weeks went by yet Tharja had yet to live up to her promise of cursing Gaius. She tried, several times, but each time she saw him again he was better than ever. It was infuriating! Maybe Tharja should try something on the princess, the thief was so googily stupid over her cursing her may have the effect Tharja was hoping for. Sadly, that was going to be put on the backburner, right now she had a wedding to worry about.

Tharja was caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand Anali was marrying someone she willingly chose, on the other hand that someone wasn't _her_. What did that royal brat have that Tharja did not? Well, there was the ability to make children, but surely she and Anali were clever enough to work around it! Surely there had to be some form of spell…

"Howdy, ma'am!" Donnel said, entering Tharja's little 'office' in one of the spare rooms. He was still dressed in his blue coat, and still wearing his pot hat in spite of the cold. "I got them two venomous black snakes you been lookin' 'fer!"

He placed a wrapped parcel on the table beside her workbench. Huh, he managed to find the snakes in the dead of winter, perhaps he wasn't _entirely_ useless. His blind assistance was not unwelcome, but it was a bit odd. No one was _this_ nice for no reason, there was always a catch, always questions. "Well?" Tharja asked stretching the word out as far as she could.

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to ask me?"

"Em…" Donnel's face twisted; he tilted his pot back like it were any other hat. "Ask ya what, ma'am?"

"Don't play coy with me," the Dark Mage threatened. "The favor, obviously."

"I reckon I don't quite follow."

"You want me to use my magic to do something for you, right?" Thajra accused, walking up to Donny in steady strides. "For weeks now, you've been running hither and yon, collecting specimens for me."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Tharja juded a hip forward. "I mean, at first it was amusing," she confessed. "But you've actually proved to be quite helpful. I'm not sure I want to know how you found those snakes in the dead of winter. Or how you found the fur sample of the Valm-native vampire bat… the bullfrog eggs…"

When Tharja thought about it, Donnel was downright impressive. She shook her head. "So then?" she continued. "Name your price. What do you want in return?"

Taking off his coat, Donnel replied with, "I imagine I'd like ya to do nothing', ma'am."

Her expression dropped. "I don't understand…"

"I don't want nothin' in particular, so I'm askin' ya to do nothin'."

"Surely you must have _some_ reason for helping me."

The villager rubbed his chin as he thought bout it. If Donnel were to ask for anything, it would probably be the ability to comb his hair, between Chrom's birthday, Lady Emmeryn's funeral, Chrom's coronation, and the royal wedding Donny was beginning to feel a little self-conscious. But having Tharja use her magic on that seemed a little silly. "Gosh, ma'am," he said finally. "That's just how we do things back in my village. If a mage was settin' about to cast a curse, see, we was all duty bound to pitch in. Just like we all help build the barns and mend the fences, and clear the pastures."

Uhg, how disgustingly nice. "Wait, you used to help mages cast curses?" Tharja asked slowly, "Cast curses… on _you_?!"

"Well, that's what curses are all about, right?" asked Donnel. "Usin' dark arts fer the greater good? By helping you, I reckon I'm helping everyone in the Shepherds. Ain't that right?"

Tharja pinched the bridge of her nose. Of all the stupid… "I don't know who taught you about curses," she said, lowering her hand. "But that's not how they work."

"It ain't?"

"No! _Gods_, it's a wonder your village is still standing!"

Wait, wait, wait. This changes nothing. Tharja can let him think whatever he wanted, and she would still have her errand boy. "All right, fine, whatever. I'll see if I can find a way to cast some… 'nice' magic. And in the meantime, you can keep collecting specimens."

Donnel tilted his pot hat forward. "It's a dilly of a deal!" he said with a grin bright enough to light up the room.

Upon pushing his pot hat back into place Donnel turned on his heel and marched down the hall. Tharja opened the parcel, once more thinking about Donnel's explanation. Gods, the boy was so naïve and nice it was almost impossible for her to hate him. Dare she say, she almost _liked_ him? Tharja needed to get rid of these thoughts, go back to deciding whether or not to curse Chrom and curse Gaius already.

* * *

Lissa was never the most timely of princesses, one of her many flaws, but in all fairness she had only just found out herself. So Lissa could understand when she requested the kitchen staff bake a cake for her the night before the big wedding for the day _after_. "I know, I know, it's short notice," Lissa told the head cook, Pierre. "But it's for someone special."

"Princess, look around you," Pierre said, gesturing to the chaos around them. "We have a wedding to prepare for. Can you not go to the bakers?"

"I could, but you always make the best cakes. Please, Pierre! I want to do something special for him! And you're one of the best there is! Please, please, pleeeeeeeeease!"

Lissa had brought her hands together, and made her eyes as big as they could be, she even quivered her lower lip for added effect. She could have made it herself, but even Lissa knew that her cooking was not up to par. She just didn't want him to have to force it down to please her.

Pierre was beginning to crack under the intense gaze of the princess. "Ugh…" the cook uttered. "Very well, Princess."

Giggling, Lissa threw her hands up and bounced on the balls of her feet.

Why did the castle have to have so many halls? And why couldn't Chrom just take her their herself? Oh, right, Frederick would flip his lid, and start ranting about it being bad luck for the bride and groom to see each other before the wedding.

The hall was littered with portraits, a long line of blue haired Exalts. There was only one portrait that seemed somewhat familiar. It was a family portrait of a blue haired man, a blonde woman, and their children. The man bore the Brand of the Exalt over his left eye, it just about covered half of his face. The woman had long blonde hair that cascaded down her back in waves. In her arms was a baby, sleeping comfortably in a bundle of blankets. In front of the couple were two children, one of them, a girl, was blonde with the man's blue eyes. Her golden hair was a little more curly than her mothers, her bangs were neatly cut, revealing the Brand on her forehead. The girl held hands with a younger boy, a sight that made Anali smile. She realized that the couple in this portrait were the same couple in the portrait that hid the safe room Emmeryn hid in that night.

So this was Calhoun and Silvia. Wow, Chrom was almost his father's doppelganger. Had Chrom been a bit older, his hair been shorter and slicked back the only way to tell them apart would have been Calhoun's Brand. Well, that and there was the fact that Chrom actually smiled, unlike Calhoun who looked like he never heard of a joke. It was obvious from this portrait alone that Chrom, and Lissa for that matter, inherited his mother's mouth, but sadly the same could be said about Emmeryn and Calhoun.

Tearing her eyes away from the portrait Anali continued down the hall until she came to a mahogany door. She looked over her shoulder from the left to the right. No one was coming. Satisfied, she rapped her knuckle against the door; the knob turned from the other side. Chrom had asked Anali to meet him after dinner… in his room. Why his room, she had no idea.

When the door opened she was met with Chrom, his effects and pauldron put away, leaving his one-sleeved onsie. Wordlessly, he took her by the hand, lead her inside and closed the door behind her. Chrom pulled her into his arms, the warmth of his body heated up Anali's chilly form almost immediately. "You took long enough," said Chrom.

Smirking, Anali lightly shoved him off. "I had to make sure no one was following me!" she said. "What was so important that you needed to see me here?"

Chrom avoided Anali's gaze. "I just…" he said. "I figured its better you see our room now before tomorrow night."

'_Our room,' 'tomorrow night.' _"Oh, gods, we're getting married tomorrow," Anali said quickly in a hushed tone.

Chuckling, Chrom placed a kiss on the crown of her head. The thought had gone through his mind more than once that day, but it had not quite hit him like it had Anali just now.

Chrom's suite was amongst one of the largest in the palace, with it's own bathroom and walk-in closet. There was a balcony that overlooked the garrison. On the walls were mounted a collection of swords, each one a replica of the weapons belonging to heroes of old, which included the Falchion when the Hero-King wielded the real thing. Perhaps, had Chrom been anyone but the prince of Ylisse, he would have become a soldier in the Ylissean army.

"I suppose your wardrobe will be put in during the wedding," Chrom said, taking a seat on the large bed. He held a hand out to Anali, who took it. Immediately, Chrom lead Anali onto the bed beside him, she scooted close to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "One more night…"

"One more night," Anali whispered in agreement. "I can't wait to get out of that suite, whether or not we consummate."

Chrom inquired, "Why? Is it not to your likening?"

"Oh, no. It's lovely, really. Just…" Anali bit her lower lips. Gods this was going to make her seem childish. "I don't like sleeping alone… at night."

It did not surprise her to hear Chrom chuckling, or that she felt an embarrassed blush on her cheeks. "I wish you'd told me sooner," Chrom said, running a hand through her hair. "We could have come up with something."

"Maybe… but it's embarrassing."

"It can't be anymore mortifying than the time I walked in on you and vice versa."

"Don't bring that up now!" Anali whined. She covered her face with her hands and fell back onto the bed. "I guess we won't be seeing anything we haven't already."

Smiling, Chrom laid back down on his side, and pulled Anali close to him. By this time tomorrow he would finally be married to this amazing woman, his dearest friend. A year ago, had someone told him that he would find the love of his life unconscious in a field, and covered in blood, odds were Chrom would have laughed in their face. That was the sort of thing you'd find in a fairy tale. But what they had was much more. "Chrom," said Anali. "Do you love me?"

"I hope so," he replied. "Or else we're in a heap of trouble tomorrow."

He felt the weakest punch imaginable agaisnt his chest. "I just want to hear you say it," murmured Anali.

Chrom let out a sigh, and cupped Anali's face, forcing her to look at him. "Yes, I love you," he said with a slight smile. "More than I have another woman. When you were sick and Ferox I didn't understand why Olga was talking to me when she should have been doing everything she could to keep you alive. I… I couldn't lose you after we lost Emm. I couldn't get the blossom's back fast enough, but I realized that something had happened between us after we retreated to Ferox. I didn't know what I was going to do when I saw you again. Gaius… I don't know what he was doing, maybe just trying to see if my moral compass was still working after everything with the general…"

Pausing Chrom brushed his fingers against the scar on Anali's cheek. The one he put there. "When he implied I was only interested in saving you for your tactics my thought's listed every reason that came before 'tactical genius.' And then I realized… I loved you. I just didn't realized I loved you from the very beginning until you got a confession out of me… What's wrong?"

A steady stream of tears had been streaming down her face. "I just…" Anali said, trying to dry her eyes. "Love you so much."

A small smile played upon Chrom's lips as he lowered his head to Anali's eye-level and kissed her tears away. "You really hurt me," Anali said with a quiver in her voice. "When you were avoiding me. I thought you hated me because we couldn't save Emmeryn. While I was recovering I wanted to see you more than anyone, but you never came. I shook it off, telling myself that you were busy, but then you skipped out on a war meeting with the Khan's and I feared the worst."

"And I hate that I did that," Chrom confessed. "I just didn't want to ruin what we already had."

"I know…" Anali's voice trailed off again. "It wasn't until you told me how you felt did I realize that I loved you. I'll never regret saying yes when you proposed, but when I said that I love you then I would have never imagined we'd be getting ready to marry tomorrow."

Chrom wanted to tighten his grip around her, but she felt so small in that moment he feared he might break her. He pressed his forehead against hers and said, "Tomorrow can't come fast enough."

* * *

**Authors Note:** So you guys see the trailer for the new Fire Emblem? I'm excited! (But have mercy on my wallet, Nintendo) I think I'd pick Nohr since it sounds like my kinda story. I think, _I think_, I've got a name picked out for this Avatar, but maybe that'll change by 2016. I don't wanna wait…

Writing this chapter, I realized that Chrom (indirectly) kind of brings out the worst in Cordelia. In Chapter 17 she became a utter fool, granted that scene was lifted directly from the Summer Scramble DCL but it treats her the same way ('throw the dog a bone,' my ass). And in this chapter she's catty towards Liam, hoping Lazuli will leave him, and distant towards Anali. I didn't necessarily plan on it, but I liked how it worked out.

Yes, Marlee is meant to be the Village Maiden. Given she has no character outside of being Chrom's backup-wife I'm given a lot of creative freedom with her.

Also, I am Chrobin shipping trash who will look for any excuse for fluff.

WE GOT A WEDDING NEXT CHAPTER!

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	21. Chapter Twenty-One

**Authors Note: **_**PLEASE NOTE THIS STORY'S RATING HAS GONE UP TO 'M.' THERE'S A REASON FOR THAT AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER, THIS IS A FAIR WARNING.**_

* * *

"_Five years or ten years from now… What kind of future awaits us, I wonder."_

"_Well, I'm sure you'll have ascended as king of Altea, and govern the world. And by then, you and Princess Shiida will have children too. I'm more than certain your children will be both kind and brave."_

"_Thank you for your kind future. And yours? What will you be doing, then?"_

"_Em… When that time comes I believe I'll still be serving you by your side. And… if I happen to have children of my own, I'm sure they will fight for the future of Altea, as well."_

"_My children and your children… Heh, it would be lovely if they could get along."_

"_Truly."_

**Chapter Twenty-One  
A Greater Whole**

Anali hardly put any effort into sleeping, her nerves and excitement made it near impossible for her to doze off. So she spent the night reading a book or reviewing her notes from her visits to Ofelia and her friends. The way Anali saw it, she was about to be put in a position of power, so why not use it?

Early in the morning, long before the sun was even close to rising Anali finally nodded off for what felt like only a minute. And then, "Up, up, up!"

Anali tossed herself over in bed to find a middle-aged woman, somewhat plump, stride over to her window and threw the curtains open. What was the point of that? The sun hadn't even risen yet. The woman, Nina, repeated, "Up!"

Groggily, Anali sat up and tossed the blankets off. As she stretched Nina was quickly at Anali's side, then, without warning, Nina lifted Anali's nightgown over her head, exposing her birthday suit. The Tactician yelped and tried to hide herself by covering her chest. Nina just rolled her eyes, unimpressed. "Milady, we are both women," she said. "Honestly, if you're going to act like this with me, how are you going to consummate?"

"You could have warned me!" Anali snapped through a whine. "Or better yet, told me to take it off myself!"

Nina gave Anali an indifferent wave of the hand signifying that the conversation was done. She fetched a robe from the closet and tossed it to Anali, ordering her to put it on. Once it was tied around her waist Nina grabbed Anali by the arm and lead her out of the room. In the light of the hallway, one could see that Nina had brilliant red hair that had striking grey streaks in it.

"Can't I get something to eat?" asked Anali.

"Later."

Nina lead her into a large bathing room where three maids were each busying themselves. There was Marlee who was looking through a collection of soaps, the other Anali recognized as Lazuli who was busy mixing a concoction with another maid Anali had no name for. Though she later learned her name was Scarlet. "Now," Nina said while she removed Anali's robe. "First things first; we have a few things unsavory to remove. And we best do it now while it's still warm."

"While what's still warm?" asked Anali.

As though it were rehearsed Scarlet lifted the wooden ladle from the concoction, revealing the substance to be thick and gloopy. Anali could feel her irises shrink, and her face lose color.

About an hour later Anali's arms and legs were as red as can be. Her skin was still tingling after she was slathered with hot wax, then had the hair on her limbs ripped off. Nina insisted it would pay off for the wedding night. The warm bath Marlee made for her felt wonderful against her tingling skin and chilly bones. The soap she chose smelt of cherries with the slightest trace of vanilla. Scarlet worked diligently on her hair, scrubbing right at her roots which also managed to massage Anali's scalp.

After her hair was washed Anali was scrubbed until her skin was soft and supple. Her hair was towel dried, and, after putting her robe back on, Anali was allowed to eat a couple of rolls. Cleaned and full Anali was lead back to the Princess Suite where her wedding dress, and a vanity had been set up in her absence. Ellyn, the woman who would be doing Anali's hair and make-up had everything already set up and waiting for Anali. She gestured to the stool for Anali to sit herself down in, then immediately began brushing Anali's hair out. "Such lovely hair, milady," said Ellyn. "All the styles you could do it up in."

"Yes," Anali agreed, wincing as the brush pulled at a small snarl. "But I've no idea what to do with it outside of a ponytail."

It was true, Anali needed Cordelia's help in order to put her hair up in something other than pigtails. Anali's bangs were left alone, a layer of hair pulled back into a small bun that was held together by a hairclip decorated with snowflakes, a motif for Anali's accessories today. The inner layer was left hanging loose and carried a light curl.

Ellyn painted Anali's lips a dark rose, making them look delicate and kissable. Her eye make-up was blended so skillfully it was a wonder they did not come from the same container. Metallic gold lined Anali's eyelashes, then the blue was blended a few centimeters up, then Ellyn smeared a little out of the boundaries of her eyes, making it look almost natural.

When Anali's eyes were done Ellyn studied Anali's face then brushed her thumb over the scar on her cheek. "This mark…" Ellyn's voice trailed off. "I could hide it, if you want. Won't take long."

"No," Anali replied, afraid to shake her head and ruin Ellyn's work. She smiled, slightly embarrassed by what she was about to say. "I… think it makes me look striking."

It was a bit funny and weird to think about it like that. Funny in that Anali was concerned that she would have become self-conscious about it. And she was, for the first couple of days. Now she was willing to weave tall tales about how she obtained it. However, Chrom clearly felt guilty about it. There was a reminder of his actions that day on his wife's face, would it be a better idea to cover it after all.

The sun had long risen by the time Ellyn began to work on her hair and make-up, and it was well into the day by the time she finished. The wedding was only a few short hours away, but the pre-wedding jitters never fully hit Anali until Nina and Marlee helped her into her dress and she got a look at herself in a full-length mirror. It wasn't the stereotypical poofy skirt or poofy sleeved fairy tale princess wedding dress, nor was the train ridiculously long. It was just a sweep train; the skirt pleated down the center, revealing a light blue layer underneath. There was a matching sash tied around her waist. The collar and sleeves were made of lace, it served as to distract from the white band on the back of her right hand to cover her mark.

Her jewelry consisted of a silver snowflake bracelet on her left writs that matched her hairclip. She wore two tiny snowflake earrings on each ear. She had on a white beaded choker with a white and blue snowflake pendant on the right side of her neck. The only thing the ensemble was missing was the wedding ring.

Looking at herself in the mirror, all dolled up and beautiful made it finally hit home. These were going to be her last few hours as a single woman and a humble tactician. By this time tomorrow she would be married and Ylisse's new queen. Had they maybe rushed into marriage? They had only _just_ discovered that they had mutual feelings for each other by the time Chrom proposed; they hadn't even acted on these feelings. They were only engaged for about six months and had hardly known each other for a year, wasn't that a bit fast?

What did Anali _really_ know about Ylisse? Oh, sure Anali knew facts and dates, but that wasn't the people, Ylisstol was but a _fraction_ of the haildom. Understanding politics was near impossible and the council meeting nearly put her to sleep until Chrom blurted out their engagement. Could she really live up to her responsibilities and expectations? Anali couldn't even say 'forget about what they think,' not about the people Emmeryn gave everything for.

Gods, why did she say yes?

Because she loved Chrom. The life she dreamed of, the husband and the children, wouldn't be complete unless it was with Chrom. The council was free to think what they wanted, Anali knew she would have loved Chrom with or without the crown. He wasn't some Prince Charming, Chrom was just Chrom, and Anali would take everything that came with him, blunders and public scrutiny and all. They had only gotten where they were today by working together, together they were more.

Anali, so lost in her thoughts, jumped when she heard Sumia singing as she walked up, "Here she is, the beautiful bride~"

Suddenly, Sumia's reflection appeared beside Anali in the mirror. She rested her chin on Anali's shoulder while her arms wrapped around Anali's mid-section. "Nervous?" asked Sumia.

"Yes," Anali replied all too bluntly. She looked straight at their reflection to find a trail of light purple fabric behind her. "And I had half a year to prepare for this. I can't even imagine what was going through your head when you had an afternoon to prepare."

The clumsy Pegasus Knight simply smiled. "Well, the way I saw it is if I could make the first step, then everything was going to be okay in the end." Her eyes wandered up to the side to look at Anali, her grin turned rather mischievous. "And considering it's me the fact that I could make the first step at all had to be a good sign. It helps that the man waiting for me at the end made me feel loved, protected, and special."

Loved? Well, Chrom certainly made Anali feel that. And she certainly felt protected, his arms had quickly became her favorite place in the world. She wasn't sure about special, but Chrom did make her feel like she was home. "Keep looking at yourself like that and I think Chrom might have some competition," Sumia said, tightening her grip on Anali. "But in all fairness, you do look gorgeous, Chrom won't be able to keep his hands off you for your wedding night."

Anali's face flushed scarlet. The wedding night… She remembered that night weeks ago when they both got a little frisky, how much Anali wanted Chrom to just take her right then and there. The one thing that kept her from insisting they go all the way was just how unromantic it was. _And_ there was the fact that they could've been caught, then what? It was so easy to want something when it was a simple fantasy, but when it was just hours away from becoming reality… it was overwhelming, if not downright nerve-wracking. "H-Have you and Frederick…?"

A pink blush formed upon Sumia's pale face. She looked away from their reflection and smiled awkwardly. "The first time was unforgettable," she said. "But it got better as we both discovered what we liked."

The bride gulped, Sumia's words did not do much to calm her nerves. On one hand it was nice to know that one of her friends had done it before. However, Sumia wasn't under pressure to produce an heir sooner rather than later. As soon as wedding excitement died down everyone would be asking about children. Not that Anali minded, after all she did want children, but she and Chrom never really talked about when it would be a good time. Aye, how could the notion of her wedding night bring upon all these thoughts?

She felt Sumia's arms tighten around her. "You'll be fine," she said.

"Knock, knock," the two heard from the door behind them.

Khan Flavia was almost unrecognizable without her usual getup. Her hair hung freely at her shoulders, and she wore a red dress with a slit that went up to her thigh. And if Anali was mistaken, the East and reigning Khan actually wore make-up. "Hey, Sumia," said Flavia. "I think your hubby needs some assistance. Just paid Chrom a visit, and the big baby's whining about his suit."

"Oh, dear…"Sumia's voice trailed off. She looked back at Anali, then a Flavia. The bride gave her friend a nod of the head, telling Sumia that it was okay to go. "I'll see what I can do."

Sumia hurried out of the room, stumbling slightly over the hem of her dress. Flavia closed the door behind her; approaching Anali, she hugged her. "Gods, look at you," she said, holding the bride at arms length. "With darker colors and a different situation you'd make quite the temptress."

"You think so?" asked Anali. She never really thought of herself as sexy, her idea of a beautiful woman was someone tall, robust, and a little on the dark side. Anali certainly filled the last criteria, but the first two? Nope. No, she pretty much described Flavia.

"I'm so anxious to get started already," Anali confessed. "But I'm also so overwhelmed right now. The two emotions are conflicting and I'm afraid I'm just going to throw up."

Flavia cupped Anali's face into her cold hand. "Just breathe, hun," she advised. "What you're feeling is perfectly normal, marriage is a huge commitment. Why do you think I'm still single? Certainly not because I'm a giant of a man of unparalleled thew."

Embarrassed and blushing, Anali smiled awkwardly. Given their current relationship Anali knew Flavia was going to hold that above her head for the rest of their lives. "No, I'm still single because I'm not ready for such a commitment," the East Khan continued. "But clearly you and Chrom are. And believe me hun, he's just as nervous as you."

"I look like a marshmallow!" snapped Chrom.

"You could have realized that during your fittings, milord," Frederick said dully. "There was plenty of time."

"Well, he _is_ right about the marshmallow thing," murmured Lissa.

"Milady, you're not helping."

Chrom fiddled with the cord that held his cape in place. He was dressed in all white. His suit was two-piece, an oddity compared to his usual taste in fashion. His top had a high collar with gold accents running down the front, highlighting the buttons. And, as another oddity, he wore both sleeves, thus covering his Brand. The cape he wore covered his left arm, much like his usual fashion, though it was missing his pauldron. His hands were bare, a necessity given the wedding rings, but one might not notice due to the thick sleeve cuffs. He had on a couple of thick white belts around his waste, though he wasn't carrying Falchion on him today. His own coronation could not tear him away from it, but his wedding could with great success. And he had tried, _tried_ to brush his hair, be neat and tidy for today, but it just popped back into place.

"A marshmallow!" Chrom repeated. "Marshmallow with a blueberry on top!"

"If you hate it that much, then just go naked," he heard Lissa say from behind him.

Frederick gasped, "Milady! Why would you suggest such a-"

"Because he's acting like a big baby! He had two ding-dang months to choose something else. He made his bed, now he can lie in it."

"I'll be sure to remember that when _you_ get married," Chrom shot back.

Lissa, in response, blew a raspberry in her brother's direction. Sometimes she was amazed how someone like Anali could fall in love with such a knucklehead. And she was about to tie herself to him for the rest of her life. "What's going on in here?"

Sumia had her head poked into the room momentarily before she slipped inside and closed the door behind her. "Oh, Chrom only cares _now_ about what he looks like," Lissa said with a huff.

"What I usually wear never made me look like a marshmallow!" snapped Chrom.

"And a blueberry's better?" murmured Lissa.

"There's nothing wrong with my usual clothes! _This_ is a monstrosity! I don't know what I was thinking-"

"Milord," said Frederick.

In a flash, Sumia moved Frederick to the side, and walked up to Chrom. The punch in his face came without warning and with enough force to cause Chrom to step back. Thankfully it did not hurt as much as the one in Ferox, when Sumia still had her gauntlets on, but it still stung. Frederick had taken a large step back, exclaiming his wife's name, no doubt stunned by the sudden turn of events. "Get a hold of yourself, captain!" Sumia ordered. "This isn't like you at all! No one's going to care about how you look, least of all Anali! Now get it together, you're getting married in less than an hour!"

She turned herself around on her heel, and marched forward a few feet away before she stopped in her tracks to look over her shoulder. "And, yes, this time I meant it as a punch."

Lissa watched, gripping her chin as Sumia walked out. Suddenly she couldn't wait to see her with child. "My apologizes, milord," Frederick said quickly as Chrom massaged his jaw. "I don't know what's gotten into her."

"Frederick, it's fine," Chrom insisted as he looked himself over in the mirror once more. Suddenly he didn't mind how he looked. "I needed that right now."

Sumia was right, Anali wouldn't care if he was overdone, or underdone so long as he didn't just leave her at the alter. Gods the past year had so many ups and downs. The war with Plegia, Emmeryn's death - hopefully she was watching them on this day, wherever she was - and the Risen, which were still a problem. But Chrom also became the Exalt, and he had found the love of his life in one of the most unusual places. And here he was starting the new year by marrying the woman he loved in just a short while.

* * *

Anali's bouquet consisted of white roses, and irises with a couple of snowdrops mixed in. She went over the wedding details over and over in her head. First the vows to each other, then the rings, after the wedding they would greet the people of Ylisstol from the balcony, then came the reception. And after _that_ would come the wedding night.

She repeatedly tapped her free hand against her leg, even from the back of the room Anali could see that the hall was just beautiful. Fake trees, painted white, were placed after every five pews. At the end of the aisle, where Chrom was waiting, was an arch made of small sticks with small prism's placed inside, which currently caught the light. Behind the podium where Libra stood had white, and very, very light blue sheets covering the wall, with crystal vases filled with white roses and irises.

A strong arm suddenly snaked around Anali surprising her. "Relax, milady," said Frederick. "You've face far worse than this."

"This dress is too long," Anali said pitifully. "Don't let met trip?"

A small smile formed upon Frederick's lips. "You still doubt me?" He looked strait ahead as soon as he heard the music begin to swell. "That's our cue."

Chrom stood beside Libra frigidly and sweating like a pig. Why did he think wearing white was a good idea? With this much perspiration it was a wonder it did not show. In perfect unison the crowd in front of him began murmuring as they rose to their feet. Slowly and in tune to the music Frederick was ushering Anali down the aisle. Chrom imagine he must have been beaming once he caught sight of Anali, she was downright radiant. She was always beautiful, even after a long bloody battle, but today she had a heavenly glow around her.

At the end of the aisle Frederick too Anali's hand into her own and offered it to Chrom. Anali gave Frederick a quick, grateful smile, then looked back up at Chrom as he lead her in front of the podium and Libra. He gave the couple a warm smile before he opened his mouth and spoke, "Dear friends, members of the council, people of Ylisse. Today we bare witness to the union between Exalt Chrom of Ylisse and Lady Anali in marriage. My friends, there is no such thing as a good war, but as these two people have shown us, if given the chance, even love can bloom amongst the blood and ashes of war."

Seated with the Shepherds, Vaike wrapped one arm around Miriel's shoulder. The two came out with their own engagement a few days after Vaike popped the question, after they found the right ring for Miriel. As far as anybody knew they did not have any distinct wedding plans just yet, opting to wait a little bit and save up their money first. It was a bit surprising, given their personalities, but their friends were thrilled for them.

"Trust is the key thing in any relationship, let if be friendship or love, and nothing brings trust to the frontline than strife."

In front of Vaike and Miriel, Sumia leaned into her husbands chest. He in turn, placed his hand over hers. Everyone, even the couple themselves, were still getting used to seeing Frederick, of all people, show someone such tender affection in front of everyone. It seemed like Sumia brought out an entirely different side of him.

"Support of a partner is just as much a necessity. And an unfortunate fact of life is that tragedy shows us our greatest support."

Smiling, Chrom gave Anali's hand a squeeze. His greatest support was right there next to him, with her hand in his. He would have held onto her hand harder if he wasn't afraid of hurting her. "Dear friends," Libra continued. "It is for this reason we watch Exalt Chrom and Lady Anali as they embark on a new journey in life. We watch as they make their vows in front of Naga to become two halves of a greater whole."

Anali had to raise her eyebrow at Chrom after that line. Why did she get the feeling that was something he requested?

Their vows were the same ones Frederick and Sumia took months ago, "I, Chrom/Anali, take you Anali/Chrom, to be my wife/husband. My constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of Naga I offer you my vow to be your partner in times of good and bad, joy and sorrow, sickness and health. I will love you unconditionally, support you in the road of life to honor and respect you, to laugh and cry with you, and cherish you as long as we both shall live."

And then came the rings. They were both matching gold with a silver center circling around the band. Chrom held Anali's hand gently in his own, and guided the ring onto her finger. "The wind at my back and the sword at my side," he whispered.

Anali's ring bore the Brand of the Exalt on its surface. It marked Anali's status as being married into the Ylissean royal family. When the time came for Lissa to marry her husband would have the Brand on his ring. Three tiny green stones were embedded a few inches apart from each other starting at the Brand.

Once her ring was securely on her finger, Anali took Chrom's hand into her own, and placed the thicker band onto his ring finger. His ring lacked the Brand but bore four tiny light blue stones around it. "Now, in Naga's name… kiss the bride," said Libra.

Initially, Anali leaned forward, expecting Chrom to do the same. He wrapped one arm around her waist, then he dipped her. In a brief moment they just stared at each other. Anali's left hand cupped Chrom's face just before he lowered himself and planted his lips over hers. They were death to the applause from their friends and guests.

Fifteen minutes later, long after the wedding hall had moved to the reception hall, Chrom, hand in hand with Anali, lead her up to the balcony where the people of Ylisstol were waiting to see the Exalt and his new wife. Anali however nearly tripped four times over her dress even with the skirt hiked up. "Chrom, slow down!" Anali said through a half-laugh. "I'm going to trip at this rate!"

They stopped in the middle of the hallway, still hand in hand. "Can I help it if I want to show off my bride to the world?" asked Chrom.

"No. But it becomes a problem if the bride snaps her neck trying to keep up with the groom."

Without warning, Chrom scooped Anali into his arms with a yelp from her. The train of her dress hovered just inches off the floor. "You disappoint me, _Mrs. _Tactician," Chrom whispered into her ear. "There's an obvious solution to your problem."

"Guess there was," said Anali.

Her fingers tangled themselves through Chrom's hair as they kissed. Little bits of the passion they reserved from the altar slipped out in that moment. When they parted for air, Anali rested her forehead against Chrom's. "I think everyone's itching to see their Exalt," she murmured.

"I think they're more interested in seeing their queen," Chrom corrected as he carried her up the flight of stairs. "My queen."

Smiling warmly, Anali cuddled into Chrom as much as she could. "My Shepherd boy."

Finally at the balcony door Anali stood up on her own, her arm laced around Chrom's. She took in a deep, calming breath, nerves hitting her for a moment. "Ready?" asked Chrom.

"As I'll ever be."

The doors flew open and Anali was greeted with a cold gust of air. The snow reflected the light of the sun; it hurt Anali's eyes momentarily as she blindly walked along side Chrom to the edge. Anali was never that fond of the cold, made all the more worse with Anali's lacy sleeves and her bare legs under her dress. She tried to take it as best as she could as she greeted Ylisstol. Mimicking Chrom, Anali waved at the people below them, hoping against hope that her smile didn't appear forced. "I'm freezing," Anali said through her teeth. "How long will we be out here?"

"Until they've had their fill," was Chrom's reply.

Somewhere, invisible to the couple amongst the crowd a young woman with long blue hair had her eyes locked on the royal couple. There was no way Marth would miss this for the world, she could have afforded a few hours to be a little selfish. Her smile broke out as soon as the Exalt and his bride came into vew. It was probably one of the few times Marth had smiled honestly and wholeheartedly in a long time.

Marth's breathing shuttered and she lightly placed a hand over her mouth. The tears were threatening to come out. Get it together. Get it together, or else she may not be able to continue onward.

* * *

The musical accompaniment was of mostly string instruments that played a light, gentle melody as the newlyweds shared their first dance together. It was less 'dancing' and more swaying side to side as neither of them were dancers. Flavia kept her back to the wall and the wine glass in her hand as she watched. As far as weddings went this was pretty memorable. Frederick outdid himself with the décor and Libra preformed a lovely service. Of course, it helped that it was memorable because the bride was the Khan's younger sister. A little tidbit she happily drove Basilio crazy with within the last couple of weeks.

Both Khan's were hardly surprised when they got the wedding invitations. After Anali's words of encouragement and Chrom's behavior when she fell ill it was only a matter of time.

"This unions a sham," the East Khan heard someone whisper. "Can you imagine, the Exalt and a Plegian. After everything they did to-"

"Ainsley, please!" a second person snapped in response in a hushed tone. "My Ricken's had nothing but nice things to say about Lady Anali in his letters, and your daughter seems to think pretty high of her."

"Doesn't change the fact we have some nameless lowborn wench with the Exalt," Ainsley scoffed. "That is certainly someone we want serving our country."

Flavia finally decided to throw in her two stars. "Isn't it?" she asked, turning towards Duchess Ainsley Rebeck. "After all, Lady Anali helped the Exalt solidify the alliance between Ylisse and Regna Ferox, and helped bring an end to the war. All that was before today. Imagine what they could do now."

"Oh, do mind your own business!" Ainsley snapped, much to the surprise of the second woman. "Who are you? Some lowborn street urchin the Plegian invited?"

"Ainsley!" hissed the second woman.

"I am Khan Flavia Alexandrov," Flavia replied with a raised eyebrow. "The Khan who made the alliance between our countries, fought alongside the Exalt and his wife, _and _trusted Lady Anali's plans on multiple occasions."

Ainsley's jaw fell open in horror. She just insulted the leader of Ylisse's strongest ally. Flavia smirked to herself before she took a sip of wine, celebrating her little victory. "Oh don't look so frightened… Ainsly was it? I'm not about to dissolve the alliance my little sister and her new husband worked hard to secure because someone cannot simply be happy with what they have."

"Y-Y-Your…" Ainsley stuttered. So the rumors about the East Khan adopting the Plegian were true? Ainsley just thought it was some nonsensical rumor!

Flavia left Ainsley, still stone cold stunned, as she turned back towards the newlyweds. Their dance had just finished and the wedding goers were giving them around of applause. A new song started shortly after, and several other people took the dance floor around the newlyweds, Ainsley's daughter and her husband included.

Anali had her head rested against Chrom's shoulder, only somewhat aware that the song had changed and that there were others around them. They were in their own little world at the moment, a little bubble that shielded them from the outside world.

However the bubble popped when a hand placed itself on Chrom's shoulder. "Mind if I cut in, boy?" asked Basilio. "Don't worry, I'll give her back."

Chrom gave the Khan a brief nod and stepped away for Basilio to take Anali's hand. The effort Basilio put in to making himself presentable for the wedding was almost as surprising as Flavia's. He did not go all out suit and tie, but he had on one of his best shirts and slacks. Even his eye patch had been switched out for a nicer one. "I didn't think you danced," said Anali. "At least not like this."

"And I don't," the West Khan replied bluntly. "But, I decided a while ago I'd make the exception for two lasses. You just happen to be one of them."

A blush formed on Anali's cheeks, how high did Basilio hold her? "Didn't I tell you the two of you were going to grow tall?" Basilio twirled Anali around once. "Looks like you're well on your way to growing taller than I originally thought."

"I hope it's not too tall," replied Anali. "It wouldn't be a good idea to grow so far away from out brothers-in-arms and people."

If Cordelia could pretend this was just a regular party she could get through this. But then the song ended and Khan Basilio returned Anali to the Exalt and the reality hit her, hard. Damn it, why did it get to be _her_?! What did Anali have that Cordelia did not?! She served the royal family for years, _years_! She knew Chrom much longer than Anali did, and yet she waltz in, and gets to treat the Exalt so casually?! Why did she get to refer to him by name, he never told Cordelia she could?!

But… they did make a lovely couple… Damn it!

She tried to focus on the other couples on the dance floor. She had to smile at the sight of Sumia and Frederick. She was happy for her oldest friend. And then Cordelia's eyes turned to Stahl who twirling Elaine around over and over.

When the song ended Elaine nearly fell over she was so dizzy. Stahl had helped her over to the empty seat beside Cordelia. "The world's spinning…" she weakly let out.

"Because Stahl twirled you so much," replied Cordelia.

Immediately Stahl held his hands up and said, "Hey, I just did what she asked of me. Buuuut…"

Stahl suddenly bowed himself forward, offering his arm to Cordelia. "May I have this dance, milady?" he asked.

Her face had almost turned as red as her hair. This was far from a first, Cordelia had received invitations to dance by many gentlemen before. But she always politely refused, partially because she did not know the person who asked, let alone liked them. It was different when Stahl asked, he was a friend, which made this feel different. But why? It was just a good friend. Cordelia stuttered, "Y-Yes, you may," and took him by the arm.

On the other side of the room, Gaius did what he did best in these large social events; support the wall. He was never really one for parties like this, and only forced himself to sit through it today for Blue and Bubbles. Gaius wasn't exactly wanted here anyway, at least not from Duke Alder, his wife and Twinkles. They were justified in that, Gaius wouldn't want Gaius there if he were in Alder's shoes. "Hey, Gaius!" Lissa exclaimed, suddenly right in front of his face. "Come on, dance with me!"

He hoped he could blame the blush on his face at the moment on the alcohol he had yet to touch. It was amazing how much Lissa looked like Lady Emmeryn with her hair down. In another few years she could probably be the late Exalt's double. But Princess would probably keep those big expressive eyes, she certainly wouldn't be Princess without them.

"Ah dunno, Princess," grumbled Gaius. "I'm not much of a dancer."

Lissa began clapping her hands together as she bounced on the balls of her feet. "Oh, perfect!" she explained. "This means I can finally teach you something!"

"I never said I _couldn't_ dance. I just said I wasn't much of a dancer."

Lissa crossed her arms with a huff and pouted. He was still resisting her. Haven't they gone down this route before and ended it with Lissa usually twisting his arm into it? "Alright," Gaius said as he removed himself from the wall. "But nothing too fancy, got it?"

"Oh, relax, it's just a simple box step."

Without warning, Lissa grabbed Gaius by the arm and lead him onto the dance floor. She positioned his hand around her waist. Lissa had forced him to stay on the dance floor long after the slow dances had ended, and the band had switched for a more lively roster. Nowi eagerly asked if she could dance with Anali, and quickly the two of them were spinning around and accident bumping into people.

Chrom watched the pair intently with a smile on his face. He could see that Anali's updo had been slowly beginning to come undone, and her face had a natural blush to it. "Counting down the minutes to your wedding night?" Virion asked, standing beside Chrom with a wine glass in his hand.

The Exalts face turned red as soon as the archer said 'wedding night.' Oh yes, Chrom allowed himself to fantasize about it more than once. Consummating was just as much apart of the whole wedding as the ceremony, and they were going to have to produce an heir at one point or another. Of course he wanted it, there were moments where Chrom was afraid he couldn't hold back any longer, their reunion after his tour came to mind. But he did not want to do anything Anali wasn't ready for.

His blush deepened as soon as Virion wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Of course you'd be, my dear boy," said Virion. "The first time is always the most daunting. There have been many in your shoes before you, my boy. Just some words of advice from your dear pal, Virion."

Oh, gods were they really having this conversation? "First of all, getting in is not as easy as it sounds. You can try a few times to get your ship to dock, but in the end you will probably need to use your hands, disgusting I know. Second, and probably most important, if she doesn't…" He waved his free hand in circles as he continued, "Let's just say 'spill the beans' this time around does not mean you've done something wrong. It is perfectly normal for the fairer sex, those beans will given a bit of time."

Okay, Chrom could keep up wit that. It as easy to follow. "Are you talking from experience?" asked Chrom.

"My, my, my isn't our Exalt a curious one," Virion said with a sly smirk. "But alas, I never kiss and tell."

* * *

The wedding was over, the reception hall was in the middle of cleaning, and their guests were resting their heads for the night. Anali followed Chrom back up to his… _their_ room. Butterflies filled her stomach, why did she have so many mushroom tartlets? Even if they didn't end up consummating this would be the first time Anali shared a bed with someone of the bolder sex. Or at least she assumed that to be the case.

It was as Chrom predicted, Anali's wardrobe had been moved sometime during the wedding and/or reception. At least Anali wouldn't have to worry about what she would wear in the morning. Anali closed the door behind her and leaned her back against it. She reached a hand behind her head and removed the hairclip. Her hair hung freely over her shoulders, the slight curl still held throughout the day. She stumbled slightly out of her shoes, relieved to finally be out of them but quickly found it to be a blessing and a curse as soon as her feet touched the cold floor.

In front of her, Chrom slowly began to remove the snowy cape from his shoulders. "Here we are…"

"Here we are," agreed Anali. Her hands went up to her ears and she removed the snowflake earrings. "I take it you've been plagued by the same thoughts I have on and off today?"

A weak smile played upon Chrom's lips. "I can't hide much from you, can I?" he asked. Sighing, he took a step forward towards his wife. "I don't want to pressure you into doing this. I'm willing to wait-"

"No," Anali quickly cut him off. "No, I do want this. I'm just… nervous."

Chrom chuckled, "And I'm not?"

Walking up to Anali he placed one hand on the side of her face, Anali's own hand covered his as she leaned her head into it. Chrom could still smell the sent of cherries and vanilla in her hair. "We can take it slow," he said.

"Slow is always nice," replied Anali. Her lips pursed together moments later. Was she supposed to do something right now? Was he supposed to do something? How long were they just standing there?

It was in that moment Chrom wish he had asked Virion what he was supposed to do first. Did he make the first move, or did she? How were they supposed to even start? Suddenly, Anali's hand left his and both reached behind her. Her fingers fumbled with the claps of her beaded chocker. Once it was unhooked Anali gathered it into the same hand with her earrings and hairclip. After that she took of the bracelet that helped to distract the out of place band on her right hand.

Chrom's hands traveled to his belt, his fingers struggled to hold onto anything while he muddled through taking it off. Once he got it through the loop he let it fall with a dull clatter. He fumbled at the laces of his boots and got them both off with a couple of tugs.

And then they both went back to staring awkwardly at each other. It seemed so much easier back when they had the restriction of premarital scrutiny. Now when they had the freedom to go all out they didn't even know where to begin.

In a flash, Anali allowed her jewelry to fall to the floor, she wrapped her arms around Chrom's neck and kissed him. He took a step back, somewhat surprised by her sudden action. He wrapped one arm around Anali's back, pulling her in as he deepened the kiss. His free hand began tugging at the strings of her dress. Anali removed her arms from his neck and helped him pull the strings loose. When she lowered her arms the dress slid off her shoulders and down to her hips. She pulled and shimmied it down to her ankles so she could easily step out of it.

Anali shivered, feeling chilled without the layer of cloth to keep her somewhat warm. Her hands traveled behind her and she fiddled with the back of her brassiere. "N-Nothing we haven't seen before," she reminded him as she allowed the garment to drop onto the floor.

Chrom begin to undo the buttons of his top, his eyes locked on Anali as she removed the last of her garments. In his initial confusion (and horror) when he accidentally walked in on her, Chrom never quite admired her body. Her breasts weren't quite endowed, but not small enough to be non-existent. Maybe, just maybe she was a little on the thin side at the time, even when they first met, but she had gotten to a healthier weight since she joined the Shepherds, and possibly had a bit of muscle forming on her abdomen. She was beautiful.

Chrom successfully freed himself from his shirt, revealing his bare chest to Anali. Finely toned muscles with a few nicks and cuts he had received over the years. His head, neck, and right arm had the remains of a faint tan line that probably wouldn't have been noticeable with his usual clothes on. Anali ran her fingers down his chest, softly brushing the tips against Chrom's skin. His breathing hitched under the touch, goosebumps littered his arms.

Inhaling, he gathered Anali into his arms once more that day; he momentary tensed when her hair brush against his arm. He brought her to the bed and laid her onto her back. Anali trembled slightly, partially out of a chill, and partially her nerves and excitement getting the best of her. Chrom climbed in on top of her, he lowered himself down to kiss her again. Her tongue entered his mouth while her fingers entangled themselves into his hair.

Her eyes snapped open when she felt Chrom's warm hand cup and massage the corresponding breast. Their lips parted for a moment allowing them both to catch their breath. Anali pulled herself up slightly to nibble at Chrom's earlobe, he breathed out the tiniest little moan and lowered his lips onto Anali's neck.

A fit of giggles escaped her lips and she withered under the touch. "Hehe! Stop! Stop!" she squealed. Lowering herself back onto the pillow Anali grimaced at the sight of Chrom's mischievous smirk. "Oh no…"

"'Oh no is right,'" said Chrom. "That wasn't exactly tactically sound."

"No. But this is."

Before he knew it, Chrom was on his back, looking back up at Anali as she straddled him on the hips. She pushed her bangs out of her face while her hair fell over her shoulders. There was a bold, pleased smile on her face. She placed her pointer fingers just under his neck and slowly dragged the tips down the center of his chest. Chrom's breathing hitched and his body trembled. Anali repeated the process once more before she lowered herself to nibble his ear again, her free hand pulled at the lace of his breeches.

Chrom lifted his hips slightly, making it easier for Anali to pull his breeches and smallclothes down low enough he could easily kick them off. Smiling slightly, Anali lowered herself back down and placed her lips on the side of Chrom's neck. Her lips traveled down his neck, from shoulder to shoulder, then down his chest until she reached his abdomen. Anali felt Chrom's hand run through her hair.

When Anali pulled herself back up to look him in the face, he guided Anali onto her back and began to rock his hips against hers. Her legs hooked themselves around her waist as Chrom set into a slow, steady rhythm. Slow because the last thing he wanted was to unintentionally injure her because he wasn't being careful.

Anali grasped him by the shoulder, her nails dug into his skin; her breathing trembled. She was rendered breathless for a moment as she reached her climax. Anali's head fell back onto her pillow as Chrom reached his peek moments later. Breathless he collapsed on top of her. She wrapped one arm around his shoulder, her eye lids began to feel heavy, the exertion of their acts and the long day finally began to catch up with her.

She had wanted to say it to him. To say 'I love you' before either of them fell asleep, but she did not have the strength. But maybe she didn't. Hadn't the days events, their actions tonight said it all? Neither of them could have told you how late it had gotten, or even how early it was. Any sense of time was lost. And the world was soon lost to them as they both fell into a deep slumber.

* * *

**Authors Note: **Ooooh, sweet mystery of life at last I found yoooou~

I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I couldn't resist!

So, authors note today is probably going to be as long as the chapter. Damn it, why do I have a lot to say about this chapter?

\- So, the header for this chapter… I admit it is a little out of place considering how every other chapter's been without. The lines are taken from Marth and the F!MU's final base support from Heroes of Light and Shadow. And it there in the first place because my headcanon is that the Avatar in Awakening is a descendent of the Avatar in Heroes of Light and Shadow (especially if you pair the M!MU with Katarina). So, as far as Embers is concerned, yes, Anali is a descended of 'Marth's shadow.' Who were they? Maybe we'll find out one day.

\- I didn't want to use the Bride class for Anali's wedding dress. I'm not that fond of the design, I love the idea of it, but the design's just meh. Her dress is, however, based off of Zhu Li's wedding dress from The Legend of Korra finale, with some minor alterations. Yes, I realize it get's a little funny on a meta scenes when you realize which character Zhu Li shares a voice actress with in this game. Anali's jewelry was going to have a butterfly motif, but considering they're still in the dead of winter I decided against it. If the wedding was closer to spring, maybe, but…

\- Sumia may have been a wee bit out of character when she discussed her sex life with Anali. She's a bit of a demure character, and when you first meet her she's probably the one hiding under the bed during a passion party. But I do think she'll be comfortable talking about it after she's been married for a while if it helps a friend calm their nerves.

\- I really liked 'the slap' scene, can't you tell?

\- It just makes a lot of sense to me that those marrying into House Ylisse would have the Brand on their wedding ring. Also, yes, the stones on Chrom and Anali's rings are meant to be the other's birthstones. Chrom's being emerald, and because they don't know Anali's exact birthday they went with the next best thing, which is the month they first met, so hers is aquamarine.

\- No one can convince me that 'Marth' wasn't somewhere in the crowd during the wedding CG in the game. Like… nope, nope. She was totally there watching from somewhere in the crowd.

\- I love Big Sis!Flavia.

\- The second of Basilio's 'two lasses' is totally Olivia.

\- Cordy, what you talkin' about? Chrom told you you didn't have to be so formal back in Chapter Seventeen.

\- You can decide whether or not Virion's done it before he actually get's married. And I honestly can't see Frederick giving Chrom 'the talk.' He'd probably meander from the original point.

\- I really hope that last scene was okay. I'm admittedly a little nervous about posting it.


	22. Chapter Twenty-Two

**Chapter Twenty-Two  
Little Night Terrors**

Chrom's first thought when he woke up that morning was, _How late is it?_ And then the memories of the previous day rushed back to him all at once. He rolled over onto his side and came face to face with his wife, still sound asleep. He smiled at the thought of her being _his wife_, and he, in turn, was now _her husband_. The band on her ring finger (and his) was proof that what happened yesterday actually happened.

Anali slept flat on her belly; her head was turned towards him, and her hand loosely gripped the bed sheets. Her hair fell over her shoulders, leaving a large portion of her back exposed. Without taking his eyes off her, Chrom pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. Almost as soon as he released the fabric Anali stirred in her sleep. Not the reaction he was hoping for.

Groaning, Anali buried her head into the pillow and wrapped the blanket around her. She was obviously awake, try as she might to fight it. Chrom wrapped one arm around Anali and pulled her into his chest, whispering into her ear, "Good morning, wife."

"Is it even morning?" Anali asked through a grumble.

Keeping an arm around her, Chrom rolled onto his back so he could look out the balcony window. The sun was high and it was well into the day, but how far into the day was unknown to him. "No idea," he confessed. "I don't really feel like getting up, however."

Anali placed her head on his chest and began intertwining her fingers with his. "I want to clean up," she said. "And Frederick's bound to check up on us eventually and force you out. Or at the very least make sure we've eaten today."

"Well, if you want to get up, then get up," said Chrom.

"You first, lazy bum."

"You're the one who wanted to get up."

"And you're the Exalt. What good are you if you melt into your mattress?"

Groaning slightly, Chrom began to run a hand through Anali's hair. The slight curls that were in it the night before were long gone, replaced with knots that were in need of brushing out soon enough. "You make some valid points," he said begrudgingly.

"I have to," replied Anali. "I'm your tactician and your wife, it's my job to be right all the time."

Chrom hugged her close to him, pressing his lips at the crown of her head all the while. He found himself unable to wait for tomorrow morning when he could wake up like this again. And the morning after that. And the morning after that. "U-Uh…" Anali stuttered. "Last night… as nervous as we both were… I just wanted to tell you that I enjoyed it."

Chrom smiled slightly. "I could say the same thing. Can't wait to do it again."

"Even if… children?"

He held his breath for a few seconds. As soon as the wedding hype died down that would be the question on the front of everyone's minds. Chrom was a little on the fence about the thought of having children. He didn't always know his own strength, nor did he know anything about kids. It wasn't that he hated the idea of having children, it was just overwhelming. But now when he was the Exalt… "We'll have to at some point," he said softly.

"Two or three," Anali blurted out.

"Huh?"

"Kids…" she began to fiddle with her fingers. "I want two or three."

Chrom blinked for a moment. Well, someone had clearly thought about it before. But Chrom really couldn't imagine himself with just one child. Three, at most, was a good number, there was strength in threes. Two would have sufficed as well, but he had to agree with Anali. "Two or three," he said with a brief nod. "I think that's something we can both agree on."

Smiling, Anali snuggled into his chest. Sitting up, Anali straddled Chrom on the waist. "I think we can squeeze a quick one in before we get up," she said with a sultry smile.

Gaius' twentieth year started off pretty good, beginning with a letter from his parents and a box of Valmese coucougnette candies from his father's travels. It probably wouldn't hurt to write them back; his mother would probably be pleased to hear he was with the Shepherds. But the highlight of the day was when Princess found him and presented him with a black forest cake, topped with cherries. When she placed it in front of Gaius on the table he saw that the cake had a single candle lit.

"Happy, happy birthday, today's your special day~" Lissa sang while clapping her hands together in rhythm. "Happy, happy birthday, now blow the flame away~"

The thief raised an amused eyebrow at Lissa. "'Blow the flame away?'" he asked not even bothering to hide his smile.

"Pretty good, huh?" Lissa said with a boastful smile. Without opening her eyes, Lissa pulled out a chair and sat across from Gaius. "I even stayed up all night making that cake for you."

The ginger haired thief's expression dropped when he heard this. Thank the gods Lissa was born into a life of privilege, or else she may very well kill someone with her looking skills in any other life. But now what was he supposed to do; try to stomach her cake and hope it didn't kill him, or break it to her gently? "Oh, relax," Lissa said waving a hand. "I'm just kidding. I asked the castle cook if they could squeeze it in it with all the wedding preparations. I'm not dumb, I know my cooking is subpar _at best_. I still can't tell a measuring cup from a measuring spoon."

"Well, I wasn't going to say it out loud…"

Lissa pounded her fist on the table. "I knew it! I'd be lucky if I found a husband who knows how to cook. I mean, would _you_ marry a woman who can't even make a sandwich?"

Gaius probably would have choked if he had something in his mouth at the moment. Thank goodness Princess forgot to bring forks. His face must have gone red, and his pulse began to speed up. Damn it, if Princess kept it up like this he was going to be up to his neck in trouble. "U-Um… Well, I don't know," he finally replied. "I never really thought abo-"

His mind wandered to an image of himself holding a featureless child as blonde woman fussed over the both of them as soon as he said that. Settling down was always apart of Gaius' life plan… after he turned thirty-five or something. Well, that or marry some rich old widow. Romance and settling down could have waited until he was getting on in years, not something he planned on in his early twenties.

Nope. This was asking for trouble amongst her friends. Time to nip this in the bud. "Look, Princess," Gaius leaned back in his chair, "You're very sweet, and I like you a lot, but are you sure we should be… you know. Seeing so much of each other?"

Lissa simply blinked twice. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I'm a thief, you're the Exalt's sister… Tongues might start wagging is all."

What Gaius didn't include was that he was also responsible for jailing and the almost death of Twinkles father. Thought he did not doubt that Twinkles herself was waiting to spring that bit of information up on Princess. Still this long as she never brought it up to Lissa had to be a good sign.

"_And_?" Lissa asked in response. "Seriously, I'm suddenly not allowed to spend time with my friend and do something for his birthday?" She reached over the table and lightly bopped him on the head with her fist. "Come on! I don't give a fig about what a bunch of gossipy court ladies say about it."

"What about Twinkles?" asked Gaius.

"Who? Maribelle? Why would it bother her? She know we're allowed to have more than one friend… At least I think she does."

"Oh… well, all right, then," Gaius said awkwardly. Quickly, he got onto his feet and turned around. "I'll get us a some forks."

"Us?" Lissa asked hopefully.

"Food like this should be shared, right?"

He could practically hear the smile on Lissa's face. That was it, Gaius was no longer _going_ to be in trouble, he _was_ in trouble.

* * *

The first six weeks into their marriage flew by with little hindrance between the newlyweds. Anali would still occasionally see Ofelia and the other street urchins, though now she was going under the name Annie.

Two weeks into February the Shepherds marched out to a small town a few miles out of Ylisstol after Tybalt and Cordelia reported a horde of Risen headed towards the town. Once they actually arrived, the Risen had cornered one of Anna's sisters. The merchant's horse had been spooked when one of the mages cast a fire spell. Not only had the merchant Anna been thrown off, but some of her merchandise was thrown out of the wagon, onto the snow. Which lead Chrom and Anali to lug it back into the merchant's wagon while their Anna kept them all safe.

Anali assigned Sully, Lon'qu, Olivia, and Kellam to prevent the Risen from entering the town. Sumia, Cordelia, Nowi, and Tybalt circled the area watching in case someone needed extra help, and to prevent any Risen from escaping.

The wind started to pick up, making Anali shiver with such ferocity her hair kept getting in her eyes. Anali somewhat regretted not going into the battlefield, at least that would have warmed her up better than reaching into the snow and lugging the merchant Anna's goods back onto her wagon. Still, she though she was handling the cold better than Thajra, who was pretty much screaming at whatever poor sap crossed her path. And that's if they were lucky. It was probably yet another sign that Anali was Plegian. Plegia was a desert country, and while it did get cool during the winter seasons, especially at night, it was never this cold.

Anali rubbed her chilled hands together; she flinched when her ring touched her fingers as she tried to bring warmth from them. A month after the wedding and Anali was still getting used to seeing her ring on her finger, and she was still wrapping her mind around the fact that it was a wedding ring. Even in the morning, Anali would still startle when she found Chrom sleeping at her side.

She whipped the palms of her hands against her coat before she picked up a crate of books off the ground. Anali almost dropped the crate in utter glee when she saw the one title she had been looking for. In the castle library was a very, very old book that contained the strategies used by the Hero-King, as much as she wanted to, Anali never read it for fear that the book would fall apart in her hands. She searched the shops and libraries for months hoping to find a newer copy.

Slamming the crate onto the wagon floor, Anali pulled out the book and nearly shoved it in merchant Anna's face then demanded, "Sell this to me!"

The merchant Anna blinked only once, then took a couple of large steps back. "That book?" she asked. "Well, sure. I might even sell it at half-price if you take care of the problem."

Upon hearing this, Anali nearly shoved the book into the merchant's arms. She whipped herself around, and withdrew her blade and tome then hurried into the fray. "Anali, wait!" Chrom called. "There's a horse of Risen in that… Eh… Was… there was a horse of Risen…" He looked over his shoulder o see both Anna's. "How badly does she want that thing?"

The merchant shrugged. Really she was just as baffled as the Exalt. That book had been traded amongst the sister for ages, no one was interested in it. "You should know," said the Shepherd's Anna. "She's _your_ wife."

Anali had all but become a one-woman army. Her plan was pretty much abandoned, all for the sake of an old strategy book. Any reprehending from Frederick fell upon death ears as soon as Anali held her prize in her hands.

With the snow coming down and the wind beginning to pick up Chrom and Frederick decided it was best to stay at the local inn for the night. While waiting for the innkeeper and his wife to bring out dinner Anali sat, sandwiched between Chrom and Sumia. Her elbows were on the table with her head rested in her hands and her book flat on the table in front of her. From under the table she kicked her legs back and forth like a little child. Had it been any othe time, Anali probably would have been interested in the conversation Vaike and Stahl were having with Chrom about a hidden village and something about the warrior it allegedly housed.

Cordelia glared at the Tactician from the opposite end of the room. Was she so above them now that it was okay for her to abandon her own plan and act so recklessly? Her glare only worsened when Anali broke out of her childish stupor and the Exalt placed his lips on her forehead. She, in turn, leaned into his chest and rested her head on his shoulder. _Why?! _After that stunt of hers today why wouldn't the Exalt annul their marriage, and…

Gritting her teeth, Cordelia hit herself over the head with her fists. Gods, what the hell was wrong with her?! It's been over a month now and she was still having such thoughts? Her squad needed someone more honorable to uphold their legacy, not this entitled brat she had become. "Did he not feel the same?" asked Panne.

The red haired Pegasus Knight nearly leapt out of her skin as soon as the taguel had spoken. She had sat down fully aware that she was across the table from Panne, but Cordelia managed to drown out the world in her musings. Wait what did Panne just ask her? "Wh-What do you mean?" Cordelia asked innocently.

"Do not play dumb with me," Panne replied with a roll of her eyes. "Your pulse and breathing change slightly whenever you are around Chrom. I see it all the time when someone is around the person they have a fleeting attraction to. Did Chrom tell you he did not feel the same?"

_Fabrication…_

No. No! Cordelia was not going to buy into these baseless accusations. Neither Liam nor Panne knew what was in her heart, only Cordelia herself. "What makes you so sure the Exalt's okay with you addressing him so casually?" Cordelia asked, trying to change the subject.

Panne just stared at her as though she were trying to pick apart her mind. "He… told me himself," the taguel said bluntly. "Both Gaius and I when we both came into the Shepherds. I imagine it is a part of the welcoming experience. I may not speak with Chrom that much, but I do know that he prefers to be on equal grounds with his warren."

He… told her, and the others? But the Exalt said no such thing to Cordelia! He… No, wait that wasn't true. During the Exalt's cross country tour, the evening she fainted on him, he told her that she didn't need to be so formal. "It was amusing in hindsight," said Panne. "I cannot tell you if I intimidated him, or if he needed at too many places at once, but once our proper introductions were over Chrom ended up breaking a bit of the décor in his hurry to leave."

"The Exalt would never-!"

"Cordelia, Chrom's only allowed to train one speck of land on the garrison grounds because of the times he bashed in the wall. I believe he is the one responsible for that hole behind the maple tree-"

"The Exalt is not that careless!" Cordelia insisted, "He had the grace and charisma any good leader should! He's dashing, elegant, and poised!"

The taguel blinked twice, dumbfounded by the red haired man-spwan's outburst. "Cordelia, I don't know who you just described but it is certainly not Exalt Chrom," she said. "Granted, I wouldn't describe him with harsh words, but certainly not _those_ words."

Cordelia bit her lower lip, anymore and her frustration would have reached its peek. Why did everyone keep insisting the Exalt was not everything a good leader should be and more. Surely he was. But then a little voice in her head, that sounded suspiciously like Liam, said, _"What's favorite color? Favorite time of day? How does he like to relax? Face it Cordelia, you know nothing about the man you claim to love."_

With her blood suddenly cold Cordelia shot onto her feet, just as the food was finally brought out. "You know what," she said quickly. "I'm not hungry."

And then she left.

The suite the inn provided for them was something akin to a hunting lodge. There was a small fireplace at the end of the room, decorated with small figures of stags and bears. The bed was made with thick fur blankets. There was even a small selection of wine, an nice bucket, and wine glasses. Though something told Chrom that part wasn't usually part of the room.

Chrom had hoped that he could share a bath with Anali, but unfortunately his wife was still rather absorbed by her book. She seated herself on the bed, unmoving aside from the turn of a page. But whenever Chrom turned his back on her, off came her coat, or off came her boots. So by the time Chrom returned from his bath Anali was dressed in her nightgown. It would not have surprised Chrom if she finished the book already and was in the process of rereading it.

Chrom climbed into bed on Anali's opposite side. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled himself close to her so that his chin rested on her shoulders. "Keep this up and you'll strain your eyes," said Chrom. "We should turn in for the night."

"Can I just finish this chapter?" Anali asked, looking of her shoulder.

Sighing, Chrom uncoiled one arm, ad snatched the book from Anali's hands. "Hey!"

"If you finish this chapter, you're going to ask to finish another, then another. Best to put it down now."

Anali pouted playfully. The expression was long gone by the time she scooted down so that she laid on her back. As soon as Chrom laid back down beside her, Anali placed her head on his chest, it was just as much a nightly ritual as brushing her hair before bed. Some nights she would run her fingers down his chest, as he always slept bare-chested, though that action usually lead to another. But other nights they would just play with each others fingers as they shared a few words with each other. Tonight was one of those moments.

Anali had felt pretty toasty while sleeping these days. She wasn't quite sure if it was because of the blankets, or because she had been sharing a bed and blanket with a pretty effective heater. Sleep had taken hold of her pretty quickly in that moment of content.

I watch as the tall, sickly man drops to his knees; a dark haze dances around his body. Chrom turns to face me, smiling, and with it I feel lighter than I have in ages. I just want him to hold me and never let go. To go home to Ylisstol and live out our days with them. I reach out for Chrom, intending on taking hand, and maybe scold him for overexerting himself, but we both hear the tall man choke out, "This isn't over…"

_Oh no, not this again…_

From beyond Chrom I see the tall man prompt himself up on one arm. In his extended hand, I see the spell he's gearing up. _"Damn you both!"_

I shove Chrom out of the spell's path, taking the full force of it myself. My vision goes white, and I feel like I've just swallowed an entire campfire. I can't breathe…Why won't my lungs work?

As soon as my back slams against the floor I'm finally able to get precious air. My vision clears, and I see Chrom springing up to my side. He drops down onto one knee, then wraps an arm around my shoulders to help me sit up. "You all right?" he asks urgently.

Unable to find my voice, I nod. Relieved, Chrom looks back at the man in the dark robes, his body has disintegrated into a dark haze that left nothing in its wake. "That's the end of him," Chrom says as he helps me onto my feet. "Thanks to you, we carry the day."

Back onto my feet, I feel Chrom's hands on my shoulders. I wince, a sharp, agonizing pain pulses through the very center of my head. I don't think I could find it in me to yell out in pain. "We can rest easy now," says Chrom. His voice sounds so distant from me. It is like I'm miles underwater. I feel myself sway on my feet as another shot of pain tears through my me head. "At long last."

Another shot rips through me, one after another. I am vaguely aware that I'm squeezing Chrom's arm. The action is enough to get Chrom to look me in the face. "What's wrong?" he asks me.

_No, no, no, no! I don't want to see this!_

I can't bring myself to answer. My head hurts so much I'm afraid the slightest movement will make it worse. Thought all the pain, I'm somewhat aware of the panic swelling in the pit of my stomach. My vision is bathed in red. "Hang on!" Chrom encourages me, I feel one of his hands on the back of my neck. "Hang on-!"

Nothing. No pain, no panic. I see nothing. Have I finally passed out?

I blink, confused. Chrom's hands have left me, I see him take a shaky step back. His hand holds a large volt of electricity that has penetrated into him. Blood surrounds the wound, staining his clothes. My heart drops into my stomach. No… No! That man's gone! It's just the two of us! Who could have…

I feel so cold…

_I don't want to see this! I don't want to see this!_

Terrified, I somehow managed to look down at my dominate hand. Small traces of orange-yellow electricity dances across my fingers. I feel the tears beginning to come out. "No…" I utter. Shaking my head the tears are now flowing freely down my cheeks. Gods, this hurts worse than the head pains. "No… No… No!"

I'm trying with everything I have in me to keep it together. Chrom takes a step towards me, his free hands gently caresses my cheeks, whipping away the tears from my eye. Oh, gods don't… please don't… "This is not your-your fault…" Chrom struggles to tell me. "Promise me… you'll escape from this place… Please… go…"

_Please don't go… please don't go…_

The light leaves his eyes before they roll back into his head. Chrom drops onto his knees, then collapses onto the floor. Blood pools out onto the floor, my hands claps over my mouth, barely muffling the sobs that finally escape.

I've just killed my husband.

All the companions we've lost, the people we failed to save, Lady Emmeryn, Mother, Say'ri… Chrom… Has everything really been for nothing? Had he been right this whole time, and I've just been fighting against the inevitable? We were all going to destroy ourselves in the end This world isn't worth saving…

_Stop it… stop it…_

I heart the cackling laughter echo all around me. I feel the corners of my mouth begin to tug while my shoulders shake. I lower my hands from my face, a low chuckle escapes my mouth which slowly builds up into full-blow laughter. Everything is so clear now; this world isn't worth saving.

And I will relish in destroying it.

_STOP IT!_

"Anali… Anali!"

She opened her eyes to find herself looking straight at Chrom, he held both of her writs in his hands, and they had both somehow ended up on their knees. Anali's heart was still pounding in her chest. A dream… it was just a dream… No, not a dream a horrible nightmare, a nightmare she had before. In some ways that dream was her first memory, it was bad enough when she hardly knew who Chrom was. But now when she was very much in love with, and married to him, Anali was beyond horrified.

The tears were out long before Anali buried her head into his chest. Chrom released Anali's hands, allowing her to wrap her arms around him. His hand stroked her hair in an attempt to help her calm down. "Was it a nightmare?" he asked her. Hiccupping on sobs, Anali nodded as best as she could. "Tell me about…"

It wasn't an order, but a suggestion. Chrom wanted to help her, to calm her down. But all the suggestion did was cause her to dig her nails into her back when her grip around him tightened. She shook her head, still crying.

She couldn't tell him. How could she? _'In my dream, you died. I'm the one who killed you.'_ Anali couldn't say it, she didn't want to think about it anymore. It was like the longer, and tighter she held onto Chrom, the farther she could distance herself from the nightmare.

* * *

"I'm sorry…" Anali said weakly. She sat on the mattress, still in her nightgown, hugging her knees close to her.

In the morning it was discovered that Anali's tight embrace had left scratch marks on Chrom's back. Chrom shook his head. "No. If it had bothered me I would have said something," said Chrom. He took a seat beside Anali. "Do you want to talk about it now? I might help-"

"No," Anali said firmly.

"Anali…"

"I said no!"

What was so bad that she won't tell him about it? If it has to do with her past, there was nothing she that could make her hate him. "Anali…"

But Chrom was cut off by a knock on the door. It was probably Frederick to get them both out of bed. And Frederick probably wanted to discuss the return route to Ylisstol. Anali leaned forward, onto her knees, and pressed her lips against Chrom's. When they parted she said, "Don't want to keep him waiting."

There was another knock at the door. Sighing, Chrom got up and walked to the door. When he opened it Chrom came faced to face with Frederick, fully dressed, with a scroll in hand. It was rather amusing, given that Chrom was wearing nothing but his smallclothes. It was something both men had gotten used to in the month that followed the royal wedding, considering Chrom was insistent on the two of them staying in bed for as long as possible. "Milord," Frederick said instantly. "There was a messenger hawk from Ylisstol waiting for us this morning. It would appear that Elrond has been under siege by a local band of bandits."

"Local," Chrom breathed out, relieved to hear that. "Okay, rally the Shepherds, tell them there's a change of plans, and we're headed for Elrond as soon as possible."

"Will do, milord."

Elrond? Wasn't that the place Chrom and the others were before they met? Where that woman was found? Would Anali be able to handle it? Maybe she didn't kill that woman, but she was probably there the night before. Obviously _something_ happened to her the night before. But, maybe going back to Elrond would help jog her memory. After all this time it was probably a fools errand; but who knew?

As it turned out, however, they were a _little_ misinformed in the letter. There were a few Ferox bred, particularly their leader, who was easily the biggest of the bunch. Their units ranged from Fighters, Barbarians, Warriors, and Wyvern Riders. Physical fighters.

Anali assigned several units to pair up, mostly when it came to Maribelle and Elaine. Libra was the only one of their healers skilled with an axe, and Lissa always leapt at the opportunity to use magic. And then there was Elaine, who picked up a fallen fighter's axe in a moment of panic and scarily went to town with it.

Cordelia could kind of understand the logic behind in having her pair up with Stahl. He was surprisingly good at handling himself on Pegasusback. So perhaps it was for the simple case of extra manpower, it was something Cordelia would need against the Wyvern Riders, with their wyvern's thicker hides. They may have had some luck with Tybalt and Fakor, and Sumia was teamed up with Frederick for this mission. However, with Stahl and Frederick paired up with two Pegasus Knights that left their own horses rather defenseless. Anali remedied that by having Panne and Nowi guard them. Problem solved.

Anali was fighting off against a Warrior by the local tavern. She crouched down and turned to the side, avoiding the man's swinging axe. Safe, Anali pivoted herself so that she could face him again when she stood back up. Balancing her tome in one hand, electricity began to form in the opposite. Anali lunged herself foreword, shoving the spell into her opponent's solar plexus as if she just stabbed him with any other sword. The man fell over, his breathing turned raspy and haggard.

She tried to ignore the chill that traveled up and down her spine. Anali had just used the same technique she used in her nightmare. However, as much as she hated to think so, there was a tactical advantage to it. If she ever found herself without her sword, in a situation where close range was required she could always use that technique. Perhaps later Anali could find other uses for Wind and Fire magic.

Shaking her head, Anali placed her tome back into it's sling and unsheathed her sword. She pivoted forward, stabbing an oncoming Fighter in the shoulder. With an angry roar, the Fighter swung his axe at Anali, successfully slicing into her upper arm below the shoulder. Gritting her teeth, Anali tried to ignore the stinging sensation and the bleeding. She wrapped both hands around the hilt of her sword then began to swing the blade aimlessly. Anali could almost hear Frederick's criticism in her head. Somehow, through pure dumb luck no doubt, she managed to slash the sword across the man's chest. However, all that did was succeed in royally pissing the man off.

Anali was suddenly swept off her feet when the Fighter bashed the blunt side of his axe into her side. Landing on the snow covered cobblestone street she found herself in a momentary state of shock. It hurt to breathe, _really_ hurt. Every breath she took in made her want to scream and there was no doubt that doing even that would have been excruciating. Anali managed to squeeze her eye open to find the Fighter had his axe lifted above his head.

Damn it, damn it, damn it! Anali's sword was out of reach, and she was afraid to move, afraid to make it worse. She bit back a scream when the Fighter's head toppled off of his shoulders. The man dropped onto his knees before he toppled over completely, revealing Chrom who was in the middle of sheathing his sword. Relieved, Anali risked movement; slowly she pulled herself onto her knees, she winced feeling the pain that came from the side of her chest. Chrom had crouched down beside her, with one hand on her shoulder, the other hand held her by the elbow.

Anali let out a pitiful little moan as she stood up. Chrom had hoped his nights together with Anali would have helped him learn to touch things with delicacy. It was highly possible that movement of any kind was the reason behind her pain, but he didn't want to make it worse. "You all right?" he asked her, concerned.

"No…" Anali whined. "I think I've got a couple of-"

Somehow, Anali managed to shove Chrom to the side before the mace could hit him. However in doing so, Anali had taken the blow herself. She was thrown to against the outer wall of the tavern like a rag doll. The back of her head slammed against the wall, her waist stung and her chest was screaming. Anali slid onto the ground, with only the tavern to keep her upright.

In her haze Anali was only vaguely away that Chrom had cried out her name. She brought a hand to her face to find that it was coated in blood. A smile tugged at her lips, there really was something beautiful about the color of human blood. The red… so deep and rich and…

Anali's hand suddenly split into two. The world around her became hazy, it was suddenly turned sideways. And then the world went black.

Dante let out a shrill whinny as he, and his two riders barely managed to escape the flaming arrows. While the number of bandits were thankfully down, most of the ground basted units had bows and arrows. They decided to light them on fire first. Cordelia wished that they could land so she could take them out already; their arrows were starting to set fire to people's businesses and homes. But they fired arrow after arrow like rain, the most Dante could do was just evade the attacks.

"Can you see an opening?!" Cordelia exclaimed, pulling at Dante's reigns.

"No!" cried Stahl. "I doubt we'd be safe if we landed either."

Sumia and Frederick were struggling to maneuver around just as much as they were. Frederick had his arms around his wife, as thought it would help keep her safe from the fiery arrows. Tyablt and Falkor were just barely doing better than the others, if only by the tiniest thread as Falkor was quickly losing his temper. "Cordelia!" Stahl shouted from behind her. "I'm sorry!"

"For wha-"

His hand was suddenly in her face, and Stahl pushed against her. Cordelia was thrown off of off Dante in a state of confusion. She was suddenly back at the border with Plegian forces right on top of them. Her squad leader had shoved a lance into Cordelia's lance, ordering her to find Captain Phila and report what happened. As much as Cordelia had argued that she should have fought and died with the squad, she obeyed. Flying east, Cordelia could hear her squad members dying screams over the euphoria of the Mad King.

When the arrows struck Stahl's chest, and Dante's wing, Cordelia may as well have been reliving that day. Someone else had decided that Cordelia should have saved herself while they suffered the fate she should have been apart of. No… No, no, no no! She couldn't bear it again!

Falkor let out a powerful shrill, which snapped Cordelia out of her internal panic. She landed in Tyablt's arms in a momentary daze. "What are you doing?!" Cordelia shrieked. "Stahl was hit! Stahl was hit, what are you doing?!"

Another arrow struck itself into Dante's wing. Both rider and Pegasus fell. They fell onto the roof of an old shack, which collapsed under Dante's weight. Cordelia screamed and fought against Tybalt's grip. "Cordelia, wait!" Tybalt shouted over the redhead's hysterics. "We're still in the air, what are you going to do?!"

Libra and Tharja had successfully taken down several bandits, making it much safer to land. As soon as Falkor had touched ground Cordelia leapt off and headed for the shack. Where were they? Where were they?!

Dante was, somehow, on his feet, with his wings drooped at his side. At the most, the arrows damaged his feathers. Cordelia threw planks of wood and debris left and right, searching for Stahl. She screamed for Libra, knowing full well that Stahl would be in need of a healer. When Cordelia finally found him, she wasn't sure if she wanted to cry in joy or out of sheer worry. She crouched down onto her knees and lowered her face in front of him. His breathing was shallow, but he was still alive. "Libra!" Cordelia cried. "Libra, please!"

* * *

Bipedal creatures are so funny, how do humans walk like this every day of their lives? I crouch down beside Chrom's corpse and dip my fingers into the pool of blood beside him. Humans are pitiful creatures, but they bleed so beautifully, such a rich shade of red.

My eyes cast back upon the Table where the Fire Emblem lay. I pluck off the silver gemstone and play with it between her fingers. I hear two sets of footfalls echo behind me; I smile. "Milord! Milady!" Frederick exclaims. Oh, this is just too perfect. I keep my back to the pair as they approach the table, they stop abruptly. "No…"

"Y-You didn't…" a female voice says. "Why? _Why?! _You're better than that, aren't you?!"

I turn around to face the duo, I almost laugh at Freddy-Bear's ashen face and the little Voice's tear-filled eyes. "You know what's ironic?" I ask, still fiddling with silver gem. "If the little Princeling had listened to you all those years ago humanity wouldn't be headed towards destruction now."

Frederick looks like he's about to be sick. His eyes travel from me, to the corpse on the floor then back. "Oh, you want to get that little toothpick," I say, putting the pieces together. I wave it off. "Go ahead, take it. It's useless now."

Immediately, Frederick bolts for the corpse. He crouches down to fiddle with the belt and removes the sword. I fiddle with the gemstone between my thumb and forefinger for a moment before wrap my hand around it. The Voice's eyes widen looks like she's realized what I'm about to do. Bolting towards me, she shouts, "No, don't!"

I squeeze the round jewel. A loud crack, like a clap of thunder, echoes in the room. When I open my hand tiny shards and bits of dust fall to the floor. The Voice stops in place, just meters away from me. "Like I said, that blade is useless now," I say. Frederick has successfully freed the toothpick from the corpse and held onto it with both hands. "I'll be nice, and give you time to run. Go! Run like cowards with your tails between your legs! You'll all be living on borrowed time anyway!"

The Voice pushes Frederick forward, urging him to run. Never mind the corpse, just run. I cross my arms over my chest, and smile boldly. When I'm sure they've had enough time, I begin to feel a pressure on my head. My vision suddenly becomes clearer than it has ever been. And I finally shed myself of this weak, mortal body.

Anali's eyes snapped open, she was met with a wooden ceiling, and Chrom, seated beside her cot, holding on to her hand. "Thank the gods," Chrom breathed out, giving her hand a squeeze.

"Chrom?" asked Anali. "What hap- Ah!"

As she spoke Anali had tried to sit up, but was met with pain going through her hip, her head, and especially her chest. "Easy!" Chrom chided with a hand on her shoulder. "Libra said you have three broken ribs."

"Only three?" Anali whined.

"You also have open wounds on your waist and arm, _and_ you suffered a concussion."

"Well, that explains why everything aches."

Chrom released her hand and glared. "This isn't a joking matter, Anali. That last blow could have killed you."

"Which means it could have killed _you_," Anali argued. "Better me than you."

"Don't say that!" snapped Chrom. He almost stood up when he heard this. "Yes, it could have killed me just as easily, but my body is stronger, I probably could have taken whatever that dastard had planned."

"But _you're_ the Exalt!"

"And _you're_ my wife! I don't want to see you putting yourself in danger like that again!"

Anali laughed mirthlessly. Did he really just say that? "That's a real laugh coming from _you_, the guy who throws his trust around like candy."

"Don't ask me to bury my wife, Anali!"

"So its okay for me to burry you when we're old and decrepit?"

Chrom balled up his hands and held them at the sides of his head before he threw them down. "No! That's not what I meant, and you know it!" Chrom took in a few calming breaths. Closing his eyes he exhaled and reached for Anali's hand. As much as Chrom wanted to hold her in his arm he knew that would just hurt her. Libra did say that her rib would be sore for a few days. "Don't make me say goodbye when we've hardly had enough time together. I thought I was going to lose you once already, I don't want to go through that again while we're still in our prime."

Anali gave Chrom's hand a squeeze. "Are you going to do the same?" Anali asked. "Throw yourself into danger, throw caution to the wind and trust some random sap when logic says otherwise?"

Chrom remained silent for a while. But that silence had said it all. "Then I don't see why I shouldn't do the same. How is it right for the Exalt to put his all into defending this haildom and not expect his wife to do the same?"

Chrom sighed. In some ways, this was why he married her. She didn't need to be dragged into the war against Gangrel, but she fought willingly anyway. Anali was willing to stay by Chrom if he ever fell, trying to follow Emmeryn's ideals. A few silly moments notwithstanding, Anali had seen beyond herself. He did not doubt it for a second, Emm would have approved of their marriage.

Anali leaned her head into his chest, her breath shuttered slightly in pain. "I love you," Chrom said, running a hand through her hair as he spoke. "I'm going to make sure I say that often."

Anali squeezed Chrom's hand after he said that. There was a soft blush on her cheeks; a month and a-half into their marriage and Chrom still managed to make her blush during these tender moments. She heard the chuckle rumble in Chrom's chest. "I think this is our first argument as a married couple," said Chrom.

Smiling slightly, Anali turned her eyes up. "I don't think it counts since neither one of us won," she pointed out.

"I'll give this one to you."

"That doesn't count either!"

Cordelia was nothing short of a mess throughout the rest of the day. Even after Libra assured her three times that Stahl was going to be okay. That the worse he had suffered were a few burns and a broken wrist. But Cordelia had seen where the arrow had hit him, just a little deeper and it would have pierced his lung, a little to the right and it would have pierced his heart. It was probably the 'what ifs' that almost sent her into hysteria.

Sumia and Lissa had done what they could to help her calm down, which Cordelia was grateful for. Frederick had even suggested to Sumia that she spend the night with her, and Cordelia managed to let out a joke about Sumia missing him. Nowi had let Cordelia borrow her dragonstone, explaining that she would hold onto it to make her feel better sometimes, it was a thoughtful gesture.

So that night, Cordelia laid awake in one of the beds the inn provided, holding onto Nowi's dragonstone for dear life. Her thought were filled with the memories of her sister-knights, and of Stahl. No matter how many times Libra told her that he would pull through she still couldn't help but worry. When she saw him again, what would she do? Embrace him out of the sheer relieve that he was safe, or yell at him for that stunt he pulled?

Gods, it hurt so much. Why was her squad gone while she got to live? Why did Stahl end up so broken while Cordelia got away with barely a scratch? It hurt… It really hurt.

* * *

**Authors Note: **Remember when I hoped the time skip would take five chapters? _Ha! _

I think my favorite part of this chapter is Cordelia's conversation with Panne. She really hasn't told Cordy anything Anali and Liam haven't already. But given that Panne's not the woman Chrom ended up marrying Cordy's more likely to listen to Panne's words, and Panne is much nicer about it than Liam was. (Liam has been trying to help, but his way of being nice is brutal honesty.)

And, what do you know, Gaius' family is still around. Yeah, let's be honest here folks, Gaius is totally the type of guy who got into his trade simply because he could. He don't need no tragic backstory! His mother's a baker, and she's totally the one responsible for her son's sweet tooth. I will admit, if it wasn't Chrom (in-game or in-story), it'd probably be Gaius, and I'd probably have Chrom marry Marlee (the Maiden). Probably because I'm firmly satisfied with the ships presented in this story, and partially because of how Chrom's other potential wives react to a certain scene in Chapter Thirteen. _That's_ a can of worms for another day.

I think this is the first time Anali's really had some kind of reaction to her Invisible Threads dream. The first two times she's had it there's been something else going on. The first time there's the whole issue of her memory loss than to worry about some dream about some guys she hardly knew. The second time, not only was Anali at risk dying, but she was having several dreams in the process (regular old nightmares, the death of Lissa's husband, some unknown woman), so this is the first time she actually had some sort of reaction to it. And it's _after_ Chrom and Anali are married.

So this chapter was a little difficult for me to write. At first I thought it was because of real life getting in the way (which _has_ been an issue this chapter, explanation's on my blog), and I had one day where I really didn't aspire to do all that much. But then I realized it was because I just wanted to skip the action scenes and get right to the drama and fluff.


	23. Chapter Twenty-Three

**Chapter Twenty-Three  
How Far We've Come**

With the power of healing staffs broken bones mended much faster, given you follow the healers instructions and take it easy. Which left Anali in a very sour mood for a few days. At first, it was because of the constant pain with every breath she took, and then it was the issue of taking it easy.

Stahl on the other hand (pun not intended) had no problem following that instruction. His hand was kept in a sling after he woke up. Though, even he admitted that he had a bit of trouble sleeping as Stahl was a big of a rough sleeper. The buns he sustained had healed quickly with a little vulnerary application, and the arrow wound healed up nicely with a little battle scar.

However because of the injury to his hand his harp lessons were put on hold. While it left Stahl disappointed, that did not stop him from working on his sight reading. He told Cordelia he would play a duet with her, and gosh darn it he was going to play a duet with her!

In spite of her injury Anali made an effort to see the street orphans as Annie. There was a council meeting coming up in March, and if Anali was going to make her proposition she needed as many good counterarguments as possible. "What about orphanages?" Anali asked with a parchment sheet rested on her knees, and a piece of charcoal between her fingers. "Wouldn't living there be better? Roof over your head, food on your plate-"

One of the boys stuck out his tongue. "Okay, foods generally no good," Anali said, marking it on her sheet. "But what about the thought of being adopted?"

"That's not happening," said Una.

"Why not?"

"P-p-people usually w-want b-b-babies," Ofelia explained. "They r-rarely want u-us older k-k-kids."

By early March Anali was able to breathe without pain, just in time for Lissa's seventeenth birthday bash. Since the beginning of the week the snow had begun to recede, and spring was beginning to show itself, so the ball was held outside in Ylisstol. Stahl sat himself at one of the few tables working on cutting his veal into pieces. The plate was suddenly pulled away from him as Cordelia sat across the table for him, cutting the meat up for him. "Come on Cordy!" Stahl whined. He wiggled his figures to help drive his point across. "I gotta get used to using these again, they're stiff as boards right now. Or do you not want to play together?"

"I _do_," replied Cordelia. She slid the plate back to him, meat neatly cut into cubes. "But I also don't want you… did you just call me _Cordy_?!"

"What? Cordelia can be a mouthful sometimes," Stahl said before he popped a few cubes of veal into his mouth.

Sighing, Cordelia rested her forehead into her hands. This man sometimes…

Cordelia had brought it upon herself to be Stahl's primary help while his hand was recuperating. It seemed only fair to her, Stahl only received as many injuries as he did because he shielded her from it all. Gods, Cordelia still couldn't get over how scared she was when she thought Stahl had died that day. Hadn't enough people given up their lives for her sake?

Of course, that did not mean that Cordelia needed to be a mother hen towards him. Stahl did need to use his fingers again, and she was not helping him by helping him. Inhaling, Cordelia stood up. "Where're you going?" asked Stahl.

"Getting you more food to cut," said Cordelia. "I know for a fact you could eat another three plates."

Anali, still feeling the chill of winter, was kept warm by the crowd, by talking with the Shepherds, the people of Ylisstol, and a couple of the council men who were invited, namely the Alders and the Pages. It was the perfect opportunity to be officially introduced to Shalom and Greg's wives, she had seen them both at the wedding, but never really had the chance to talk to either of them.

Elora, Maribelle's mother, had striking grey hair that she kept in a half-do with ringlets. Much like her daughter, she carried a parasol with her, but kept it open, and on her shoulder to block out the sun. Even though it wasn't all that warm out. Tara, Ricken's mother, was a petite woman with a comedic high difference between herself and her husband. Her auburn hair was cut in a bob, and she seemed a little mousy around Anali, yet she opened up to Elora with no problem. Perhaps Tara was just shy around new people.

"Well, I did wish to become a big hairy barbarian as a girl," said Elora. "But alas, life lead me elsewhere."

Anali gave the older woman a weak smile. Suddenly she understood where Maribelle got her sense of humor. "Now, milady," Elora said, squeezing as close to Anali as she could. Was this what gossip usually looked like? "I'm about to ask something I am sure everyone in Ylisse has been dying to know. Will we be expecting a little prince or princess anytime soon?"

Her first response was to gulp. Anali knew everyone was _thinking_ it, but this was the first time someone actually asked her out loud. "W-We've talked about children," Anali said through a blush, "We'll probably have two or three, but when… Ehh… we've more or less agreed that it'll happen when it happens."

"There's nothing wrong with that," said Tara. "Greg and I waited three years before we had Rikki."

"Yes, but if you wait too long you'll be too tired to keep up with the youngest." Elora rubbed her temples with one hand. She looked back at Anali with dreary eyes, "Pray you never have three sons, milady. I speak from experience, by the time Maribelle came out Shalom and I were dying for something calm and delicate."

A hush fell over the crowd as one of the hired performers took the stage in the center of town square. It was just one single performer, male, with his shirt off. However anyone close to him could see the burn scars that littered his skin. He laid out two bowls, one filled with an oil-soaked cloth, the other was full of water. The man took out a piece of flint and steel, and proceeded to strike them against each other over the cloth and oil bowl, setting the contents ablaze. He picked up a staff with something on both ends, he dipped both ends into the fire filled bowl, setting the staffs a ablaze. He twirled it in his hands several times. He brought it low and close to his face for a moment, then brought the staff down towards his knees. He repeated the process twice as he brought out another staff and lit the ends.

In a flash, the performer tossed the first staff into the air, it spun around in place three times before it descended back down. The performer caught it skillfully, and began twirling both staffs. He tossed one staff into the air, did a one-handed cartwheel while holding onto the other and caught the airborne staff before it could hit the ground.

The man dunked one of the staffs into the water bowl, extinguishing the flames as he twirled around the second staff a while longer before he did the same with the other. The performer brought out two more tools, maybe rope, and proceeded to light them both. This had given the fire dancer a little more freedom in his movements, aptly putting the word 'dance' in 'fire dancer.'

He twirled the flames above his head, pumping his hips on the while. Anali watched in awe; the dancer's hair reached his jawbone, it was probably still long enough to catch fire if something went wrong. Yet he preformed without hesitation, or little reaction even though he was dancing with a force to be reckoned with.

The dancer dropped his utensils into the water bowl, then he actually collected the fire from the other bowl into his hands. Embers shot out of his hands as the fire dancer placed his hands close to his mouth. When he exhaled a long stream of fire sailed into the air, forming the head and torso of a dragon. The dragon flew into the crowd before the flames burst into tiny sparks.

Anali hardly heard the applause around her; she knew that technique from somewhere. Almost as soon as the fire dancer brought his hands up to his mouth she knew what was going to happen before it happened.

"Milady," Tara said, taking Anali by the shoulder. "Is everything all right? You look a little pale."

She tore her eyes away from the fire dancer, and down to Lady Page. Even Lady Alder's face carried a bit of concern. "Oh, uh yes!" Anali said quickly. "Kind of… I think… Excuse me."

She left, pushing her way through the crowd, hoping she could speak with the fire dancer. A woman, probably one he was traveling with, handed the fire dancer a water skin, which he proceeded to pour right over his head. He whipped his head to the side, removing his bangs out of his eyes. When he opened them he found the queen consort in front of him. The fire dancer gasped, "O-Oh! Lady Anali, how can I…"

Anali held her hands up. "Please, don't. I just wanted do…" she bit her lower lip, "This is going to sound strange but… Have we met before?"

The fire dancer just stared at her with an arched brow. "No…" he said slowly, "I don't think we have."

"You're sure?" asked Anali. "That thing with the fire and the dragon it seems like I've seen it somewhere before."

The fire dancer thought for a moment. "Perhaps you've seen my master, Karan, perform it, then," he suggested. "He was the one who created it."

Karan… Karan… no. The name did not strike a cord with her, she couldn't place a face with the name, nor could she think of a time when she may have heard it. "I'm sorry, milady, I couldn't be of any help," said the fire dancer.

"Oh, no!" Anali insisted with a weak smile. "I-It's okay. It was a long shot to begin with."

Anali wasn't sure what she was thinking. She knew that if anyone, even if they were traveling performers, knew her they would have made themselves known to her a long time ago. Which clearly meant that anyone Anali would have known were dead, or she was just that terrible a person and no one cared to see her again. It was one or the other, and neither one was exactly a comforting thought. Nothing she hadn't already figured out for herself.

"Hey, Bubbles," said Gaius. Anali turned to find the ginger with a couple of mugs filled a frothy drink, one of which, he offered to her. Her immediate response was to raise an inquisitive eyebrow. It was never that easy with Gaius. This man was easily the most aggravating, if not tenacious, person Anali had ever met. Why couldn't this man take 'yes' for an answer?

"Thanks…" Anali said. She took the mug and took a quick sip from it. It was, unsurprisingly, chocolate flavored.

"What's with the look? Am I not allowed to share a drink with a friend now?" Gaius asked accusingly. Anali's weary look turned into a hard glare. Did he really just ask that? "Although if you agree to keep a certain little nugget hush-hush I can get you as many drinks as you want."

"Gaius!" Anali snapped, trying not to draw attention to them. "I told you months ago that it's between you and me. If I wasn't going to keep my word I would have told someone by now, if only to get you to stop making an ass of yourself!"

"So yes, you agree then?"

"Ugh!"

Anali would have thrown the drink in his face if it wasn't pretty good. Instead she turned herself around, and marched off hoping to find Lissa, Sully, Panne, Libra, Olivia, or Cordelia. Or _someone_ but Gaius. Gaius took a swig of his drink, well that went swimmingly. "That seems to be happening a lot," Lissa said, suddenly standing at his side with Maribelle, who may as well have been glaring a large hole into the side of his head. "Something happen between the two of you?"

"Not much," Gaius said in between swigs, "Bubbles just did me a solid, and I'm trying to repay the favor."

Maribelle's brow furrowed slightly, as though trying to figure out where 'Bubbles' could have come from. "Well," said Lissa, "Just going on a hunch, but I think Anali's pretty content without the solid being repaid."

"And I get that. But you don't get anything for free in my world. Usually someone like that waits down the line to have the favor returned."

"Speaking from experience, are we?" quipped Maribelle.

Lissa turned to look at her friend, muttering Twinkles name under her breath as a warning. Turning back to Gaius, she said, "Have you tried _explaining_ that to her before it got this far?"

Sucking on the inside of his cheek, Gaius conspicuously looked over his shoulder as though he were expecting someone to walk up to him. Yeah, maybe if head explained where he was coming from instead of harassing her with things she neither wanted or needed, they would have moved pass this issue by now.

Princess' eyes lit up as the band began playing a soft melody. Immediately, she took Gaius' free hand into her own. "Come on, let's dance!"

Gaius' eyes turned cautiously towards the still glaring Maribelle. For once he almost said yes instantly. He would have if not for Lissa's friend. "I dunno…" he said drawing the word out for all it was worth.

"Oh, come on," Lissa said through a fake pout, "You're not going to say no to the birthday girl, are you? _Aaaare_ you?"

A weak grin played upon his lips. "I guess not…"

With a bold smile, Lissa ripped his mug out of his hand and shoved it into Maribelle's. She tried to ignore the look of disapproval on her friend's face as she walked, hand in hand with Gaius onto the dance floor. Immediately, Gaius placed one hand around her waist. It was a simple box step, probably the only thing Lissa was capable of. Lissa never exactly had the grace as most other ladies in court, but it was better than nothing.

The song must have changed without Lissa even realizing it as the tempo was slightly different, softer. Lissa made a bold move by resting her head on Gaius' shoulder; she smiled slightly when she felt his muscles tense.

Lissa had her crushes on guys before, as most did growing up. For her it ranged from Frederick to Tybalt, to some random guy in town. And then came some candy coated rogue who caught her eye by simply offering to bake with her to keep her mind off Emmeryn's execution. It started simply enough, Lissa wanted to know how to do the most mundane things, Gaius was the only one willing - well _mostly_ willing - to teach her.

Then Lissa was just looking for any excuse to be with him, one thing lead to another, and now Lissa was experiencing her first love. It made her feel like she was in her very own fairytale. And like most fairytales, Lissa wanted Gaius to be her _only_ love.

Gritting her teeth, Maribelle dumped Gaius' drink onto the cobblestone. What on earth was Lissa thinking? Dancing with that… that… and that smile her treasure had on her face! No. No, no, no, no, no! Lissa was simply too good for such a scoundrel! Hell, Maribelle wouldn't approve if Lissa was dancing with one of her elder brothers! No. The only person in the world Maribelle would be happy to see Lissa with, let it be romantic or platonic, was Maribelle herself.

Maribelle did have half a mind to inform Lissa about what Gaius had done to her dear father. But how would she react? It would break her poor little heart. No, Maribelle would simply have to handle this with tact and grace. No more of this passive aggressive approach. As soon as she had that troglodyte alone Maribelle was going to give him a piece of her mind. If he knew what was good for him, he would keep away from her treasure.

"You okay, Maribelle?" Ricken asked while he approached her with caution. "You seem a little… miffed."

The blonde forced herself to settle down, and try to smile for him. Ricken had done nothing today to warrant Maribelle's anger. It wouldn't be fair to him if she lashed out when he was simply checking on her wellbeing. "Quite right," she said through her smile, "Thank you for asking."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine. What would make you think otherwise?"

"Well, the way your looking at the dancers may have given me a few ideas."

Ricken stole a peek at the dance floor and saw Lissa with Gaius. Okay, that explained everything. Clearing his throat, Ricken offered his right arm to her with a slight bow of the head. "Might my lady grace me with thine honor of thine next dance… eth?" he asked.

Maribelle had to cover her mouth to keep herself from laughing. Bless this darling for trying to cheer her up. Had Ricken made this offer last year, Maribelle probably would have politely turned him down. Not out of malice, but simply because he was too short to even be her dance partner. But today Maribelle realized that she was right when she said that Ricken was due for a growth spurt anytime now. Ricken now stood a good head taller than her. Yes, Ricken was definitely beginning to grow into a very fine man who would make any woman lucky to have him.

"Yes, she will," Maribelle said as she took him by the arm.

* * *

The afternoon following Lissa's birthday Anali sat nervously beside Chrom in the council room. She was finally going to put her philanthropy project on the table, reveal to the council her intentions and get started on it soon. She didn't give him too many details, but she did inform Chrom of her intentions. She was still nervous, there were people who disapproved and distrusted her, Anali was not about to fool herself in believing otherwise. And this wasn't exactly a battleground.

"Relax," Chrom whispered into her ear. He took her hand into his own and brought her knuckles to his lips. "It's going to be fine."

Anali smiled weakly as the council filed in. It was not that unusual to have the first council meeting of the year in March, when the roads where generally a bit safer for travel. Sometimes, depending on how dire the situation was, they would still have their meeting in winter.

The meeting was as basic as could be, bandit attacks had gone down tremendously compared to last year and if there were any attacks it was from local criminals. The biggest threat right now were Risen, but they understood more about them these days, and it did seem like they were making some progress in wiping them out.

"That is wonderful to hear," said Chrom. "It's starting to sound like we might finally be rid of these monsters. I'll have you all know that the Griffon Rider's have had a wonderful outcome of a hundred and fifty recruits, we're hoping to have tripled that by next year. Tybalt has the recruits bonding with their griffon's right now while showing them how to use their weapons. He's aiming to have them airborne by late April early May."

His eyes turned up to Escalus as though daring him to say something against his son. Clearing his throat, Shalom raised one hand. "Milord, I'd like to address the matter of Plegia's new king," he looked down at his notes, "Validar Fauder."

Chrom's brow creased slightly. "Yes, please," he said with a curt nod. "I confess this is the first I've heard about it."

"Well, as you know there was an immediate election after Gangrel met his end-"

"Election?" asked Anali. Both Escalus and Ainsly's eyes glanced up at her as though she should have already known this. Maybe she should have. "My apologies Shalom, but I'm afraid I don't know… or perhaps the more apt word is 'remember' how Plegia's government works. I would have thought Gangrel's next of kin would precede him."

Shalom smiled politely. "None taken, milady. As far as anyone knows Gangrel had no kin by the time he took Plegia's throne."

"Every five years the people of Plegia select their next king or queen," explained Greg. "While this happens every five years, the person on the throne can stay for decades should the people choose it."

"Precisely," nodded Shalom, "Gangrel had been on the throne for eight years by the time, but the people showed that they would rather throw their kingdom into chaos than let him finish another two years.

"Now, as I was saying, the election was held immediately after Gangrel met his end. Validar was almost unanimously agreed upon."

Anali's brow rose when she heard this. "What was he standing for?" she asked. "What did he say to show the people that he wouldn't repeat Gangrel's actions?"

Shalom looked a little lost for words. "I'm afraid I don't know," he confessed.

"He hasn't followed the path of his predecessor yet," said Chrom. "While it would be benefactor to at least meet Validar let's wait for everyone involve to settle down. Now, before we close this meeting, Anali has a proposal she would like to share with you."

"Thank you, Chrom," Anali stood up. She licked her lips and moved a lock of hair behind her ear. "I know that the homeless has been an issue, that's a given. However, what I want to discuss is the children left homeless by both conflicts with Plegia. I've fought alongside one who fit the description, and it was that very reason as to why it took him a while to trust me."

She paused for a moment to lick her lips again. "Now I've been making plans for a two-part project to help better these children's lives. If this works I would love to extend it to other parts of Ylisse. Both parts are voluntary, however I can think of several people who would be willing to do so. I want to set up an apprenticeship program where the children who wan to work, and the workers willing to teach them have a master and apprentice relationship. Idyllically the children would be live-in apprentices, but if they have not the room I already have a plan to counter that. This gives them a roof over their head, and food in their stomachs, as well as a future and a way to make more than just one or two stars a week."

"Excuse me, Anali," Ainsley spoke up with her fingers steepled in front of her. "Surely orphanages would be more than willing to take these children, and it would be cheaper than this pipe dream."

The tone Ainsley took was clearly condescending while disguised as being polite. And then there was the fact that Ainsley referred to Anali rather informally without her permission. Still, it was, perhaps, a step-up from the Duchess previous attitude towards Anali. Flavia should really speak with her more often, Chrom mused. "It would," nodded Anali, "However the problem is that most people wanting to adopt want _babies_, these kids are much older than three. Most of them have the mindset of 'why bother if no one's going to look twice in my direction.'"

"You said that you know some who would volunteer for this," said Amberly.

"I did," nodded Anali, "The local blacksmith would be happy to take on an apprentice, as he and his wife have no plans for children. I hear the baker's been looking for extra help. In addition to the program I want to build a restaurant of sorts, open to the homeless in general, and to those who are facing financial difficulties to give them a proper meal. The church will run it, volunteers and donations are accepted, again I can think of plenty of people willing to volunteer."

"And the money for this would come from…" Escalus pressed.

"Donations. Taxes. My own pocket if I must," said Anali. "And I would like to see this extended to other parts of Ylisse given these problems exist beyond Ylisstol. I do realize that there are some problems that need to be sorted out, but I would like to see both projects up and running this year before the start of winter."

She sat herself back down, letting out a sigh of relief. The hard part was over. The council was silent for a moment, with a few murmurs passed around between them. "There are a couple of problems," said Tessa. "But I do like it. This food center, have you any idea where it will be?"

Anali's face lit up. "Ideally I'd like it to be by the church, but I have two other locations if that can't work. It needs both a kitchen, and a large storage room so…"

Chrom couldn't help but smile as Anali and the council went back and forth, some of them tossing out ideas. This was the sort of thing Emmeryn would have loved to see, and would have given her own suggestions to the idea. If only she were here now to see how far the both of them had come.

The meeting ended in much higher spirits than the last, though Anali still looked a little troubled. She took Chrom's forearm into her hands after the council had left the room, leaving the two alone. "Chrom," she said awkwardly. "I've been speaking to the street kids, getting an idea of their lifestyle to help me with this idea. And…"

He arched a brow. "And?"

"I'd like to bring at least one of them into the palace to work with Marlee. She has a stutter and I fear that may hinder her odds of finding good work."

Chrom could understand where Anali was coming from with concerns like this. Time was money, and he wasn't sure how many business owners were willing to wait for a person to complete their sentence. It was awful when he put it like that but it was an ugly fact. "I don't see why we can't do that," said Chrom. "If she's willing, that is."

Anali smiled for a moment before she rested her forehead against Chrom's arm. "I would like a bit of ale with dinner tonight," she murmured.

Chuckling, Chrom placed his free hand on her head and tussled her hair.

Two days later Chrom was awake long before the sun was up. The hardest thing for him was dressing himself without waking Anali. Well, okay, keeping secrecy was going to be the hardest part, but Chrom had decided to worry about it one step at a time. Right now he would focus on getting dressed, getting his effects, and then finding Sumia and Frederick.

The day after the council meeting Anali introduced him and Marlee to Ofelia. She seemed a little skittish, which made Chrom unsure about how to talk to her, it was the same problem he had with Olivia. But Anali explained to him in private that the last time Ofelia worked in a household her masters weren't exactly kind. Chrom decided it was best to let Ofelia adjust to the castle life, let Marlee show her the ropes, and just give the girl her space.

He double checked himself, certain that Falchion was secured around his waist. Okay, ready to go. He just needed to quietly walk across the room, open the door and gently close it behind him. Easy.

"Chrom…"

The Exalt hadn't even made one step towards the door when he heard the slurred voice of his wife. He looked over his shoulder to find Anali propped up on one elbow. Her hair and nightgown were disheveled, and her face made it clear that she was still half-asleep. "Wher'you goin'?" she asked; her voice was slightly slurred and muffled. "It's early…"

"I know," said Chrom. He took a seat on the edge of the mattress, and guided Anali back down, flat on the bed. "I'm just heading out with Sumia to get new barding for Telemachus."

"I should go with…"

"That's not necessary," Chrom assured her as he ran his fingers through her hair. "Stay here, get a bit more sleep." He winched upon remembering a little tidbit Anali shared with him a few weeks ago. "That's… going to leave you in here alone for a couple more hours."

Anali rubbed one eye. "But…"

"If we leave now we should be home long before it gets dark."

With her sleepiness finally taking hold of her, Anali's eyes fluttered closed as her head hit the pillow. Chrom smiled to himself as he pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. When Anali slept this peacefully he was reminded of that first day. It really was strange how life lead them together. Chrom lowered himself down and kissed her on the temple. "I love you," he whispered into her ear.

Anali didn't wake up again until Marlee drew the curtains open. Ofelia stood by the door observing Marlee. On a normal day Marlee would have waited until Chrom at least was out of the room before cleaning up. But given that he wasn't here she and Ofelia were the first people Anali saw that morning. "Good morning!" Marlee greeted with a bold smile. "Will you be taking breakfast in your room today?"

Marlee had taken to Ofelia just as instantly as she did Anali. There was a point where she feared that Marlee had overwhelmed the younger girl in her excitement, but at most Ofelia just seemed a little stunned and confused.

Anali sat up while she rubbed her eyes. What happened earlier that morning? Chrom… Sumia… barding for Telemachus. "Barding?" she murmured.

"P-P-Pardon?" asked Ofelia.

"Chrom," said Anali, "He said that he was getting his horse barding with Sumia… but why would the Exalt _go out _and get barding? Especially _without_ Telamachus? Chrom made it sound like he was riding with Sumia."

Marlee sucked on her lips as she walked up to the wardrobe. There was a few moments of silences outside of the faint rustling of clothing. The blonde maid placed a white dress at the foot of Anali's bed. "I'm afraid I cannot answer that," said Marlee, "Now will you be taking breakfast in your room?"

Anali spent her day in the library reading up on other figures during the Hero-King's reign. The tactical book she had gotten recently mentioned a maiden called Katarina. While she was originally sent to assassinate the Hero-King, he eventually convinced her to leave the woman who concocted the plan to begin with. Eventually Katarina became Marth's tactician to atone for her actions before and after the assassination plot. In the brief biography in the book it explained that not everyone was willing to trust Katarina with their lives and the fate of the country should the worst ever come to pass for a third time. However, as the book said, Katarina kept her head high and did the best she could with the support of a friend.

That was the bit of information that caught Anali's attention. The book stressed that Katarina would never have gotten as far as she did without this friend, yet they were never named. Even if they weren't a soldier, shouldn't they have been named if they were that important a figure in Katarina's life?

So the day was spent with fruitless research until Chrom returned home that afternoon. He wouldn't tell her where he really was that day, but Anali noted how he smelt like a barn, which lead to one of their playful moments. The next several days Anali alternated between research on Katarina's life, and going over construction plans for the food center.

One day, Anali found herself particularly busy. Not so much because of her own personal work, but because it seemed like everyone wanted to do something with her. Nowi wanted Anali to teach her a couple songs on the ocarina, then Donnel had a new snare he wanted to share with her, and Tharja practically dragged her into town for lunch. When they got back Sully got Anali into a headlock and would only let go if they had a match together, which somehow got Vaike, Stahl, Panne and Libra of all people in on the fun. After that Maribelle all but forced Anali to change into one of her nicer dresses and brought her to afternoon teatime with the girls

It was like everyone was trying to keep Anali busy for whatever reason. No matter what she couldn't politely tear herself away from the activity at hand and look for Chrom; he was gone by the time Anali woke up that morning. And she would ask if anyone had seen him, but then whomever she was talking to would change the subject.

When Anali finally tore herself away from teatime she hurried to her room to retrieve her game board and the little figures that went with it. She hurried to the library, very late for her game with Virion; hopefully he was still there. Thankfully, he was still in his usual seat; though he had a sheet of parchment in hand. It might have been a letter, but whatever it was seemed to cause Virion some distress, judging from his furrowed brow. Taking her seat across from Virion Anali laid out the game board and the pieces. She noticed the signature at the end of the letter, elegant, and backwards, but Anali could still read it. "Cherche Dupont…" read Anali, "Who's that?"

"A very dear friend of mine," Virion said putting the letter away. "Now, is it that time again?"

"That it is," Anali said while she cracked her knuckles. "And I think I finally have the right strategy to beat you."

"Oh? I do so love a challenge. Though I do recall you saying something similar the last twenty attempts," Anali's shoulders flinched when she heard this. Did he really have to bring it up like that? "Now, you're not, by any chance, losing on purpose, are you, my dear lady? Well, you would not be the first to resort to such tricks…"

"For a grown man with a bib?" Anali asked raising her brow. "I think not. You move first."

"Bib?!" Virion repeated, his voice had reached a higher octave with that one word alone. He pointed at his collar, "This is a _cravant_! This is the very height of fashion among sartorially minded nobility."

"Sounds fancy," Anali said dully. "Your move?"

"Tsk! I can forgive ignorance, but sarcasm is another matter! You've made a mockery of the delicate art of hollow flattery! I demand satisfaction on the field of battle, milady. Have at you!"

Their little match turned out much the same. Anali tried as hard as she could, but Virion, once again, ended up victorious. "Damn it all," cursed Anali. "Why can't I ever beat you?"

Leaning back in his seat, Virion steepled his figures. "It seems my carvat is vindicated."

"I can't say the same for your fashion sense, but you do have a real knack for strategy," Anali pushed her bangs back while she rested her elbows on the table. "Perhaps you should be coming up with the plans instead of me."

"Inadvisable, my good lady," Virion said matter of factly, "I fear we'd never last. Spare a second glance that the board and tell me, who has more soldiers come battles end?"

Anali looked back down at the board. While Virion succeeded in taking out her commander, she had Virion's troops vastly outnumbered. "Oh…" she murmured.

"I may have won," continued Virion, "but at what cost? Half the moves I make in the game could never be used in a real battle. No, no my own men would have my head on a pike before the enemy. This army needs a tactician who avoids the sacrifice of even a single man. That is why we need _you_, Anali."

A pink blush formed upon Anali's cheeks as she rubbed the back of her neck. "That rather… kind," she said. "Dare I say sensible? You're actually starting to sound like a normal person."

"I am ever the definition of sensibility," Virion replied with is hand just barely touching his chest. "And 'normal' is just another word for 'common,' thank you very much!"

"Because flirting with anything with breasts, and Libra, isn't very 'common' at all," said Anali.

She collected her board and game pieces while Virion stressed how he only _flirted_. And how anyone could have made the same mistake with Libra. And how Virion intended to give beauty the proper praise as he saw fit. And how every maiden was a princess and he would treat them as such.

Silently, Anali brought her items back to her room and placed them in their usual spot. She ran her hands through her hair as she sighed. Still no sign of Chrom. This wasn't like those awful days when Chrom was actively avoiding her. For one thing, they were married this time around, Chrom made a commitment to her. Of course he had a commitment to the people, he was a busy man and now that things were getting rather peaceful Anali herself didn't have much obligations yet.

A growl rumbled from the pit of her stomach. Time to stop worrying, she would see Chrom eventually. Now it was time to eat. She nearly jumped when the door open, and Chrom walked in. "Where have you been?" asked Anali. She walked up to her husband and wrapped his arms around his chest, having missed their few minutes of peace in the morning. "I haven't seen you all day."

"I know, I'm sorry," he said while stroking the back of his hand against her cheek, "I've been a little busy today."

"Has something happened?"

Chrom shook his head, "No. Just… why don't we head over to the garrison."

A bright smile happened upon Anali's lips at the thought. Gods, when was the last time she was in the garrison, just goofing off and talking with the others. So, with a vigorous nod, Anali wrapped both of her arms around one of Chrom's.

The walk from the castle to the garrison was no longer or shorter than it usually was. The air carried a slight chill, which was responded to with Anali leaning into Chrom's side. She realized fairly quickly that her husband made for a pretty good blanket. "So… just what were you doing all day?" asked Anali.

"Well…" Chrom rubbed the back of his neck. "Do you… know what today is?"

"Em… March the twentieth?"

"No. Well, yes, but that's not what I meant," he stopped in front of the garrison door, and cupped Anali's face into his hand, "We met a year ago today."

She stared for a moment before Anali smiled slightly. It completely slipped her mind, but that was true. In many ways that was the day her life began; it was a relatively short life but so much still managed to happen. Had anyone else found her Anali doubted she would have found herself where she was now. Odds were she wouldn't have found herself with the privileges she had with the Shepherds. Her situation right now probably would have been less than desirable. "I suppose," said Anali, "But that doesn't explain where you were."

Chrom didn't answer as he lead her down the garrison corridors towards the mess hall. "It's just…" he said at length, "Some of us were talking… Lissa told you on that first day that everyone had a name… and that's true. But everyone also has a day of birth."

"Yes, they do…" Anali said slowly. "Chrom can you just tell me what's going on?"

The door to the mess hall suddenly opened, revealing Lissa on the other side. "Finally!" she said exasperated, "Everyone's gearing to eat! Did you tell her yet?"

"I was getting to that Lissa."

"Look," Lissa took Anali's hands into her own. "We just figured that since you can't remember your birthday, today could be the next best thing."

"What?" Anali asked in a hushed tone.

"We've got it all set up."

Lissa pulled Anali into the mess hall where everyone was chatting amongst themselves. Anali could smell bear meat, potatoes, cheese, and hot tomatoes laid out on a buffet table with a cake and a plate of pastry horns as the centerpiece. A set up Anali had seen several times whenever one of the Shepherds had a birthday, with so many of them it was bound to happen once, twice, or thrice a month.

Anali likes bear with a side of potatoes, drizzled with cheese, and tomato soup was her favorite. None of this was exactly a secret. The pastry horns was a little unexpected, she loved them, but they weren't offered as much as bear and potatoes. Was this why everyone was trying to keep her so busy? So she wouldn't find out what they were planning?

She must have been pale as a ghost as she stared at everyone with wide eyes. It was the chorus of 'happy birthday' that cause her tears to slip out of her eyes. She felt Chrom rest a hand on her shoulder after he whispered her name. "You guys…" she said with a tooth-bearing smile as she wiped her eyes with the pad of her thumb.

Her life, as short as it was, really did begin the day she met Chrom. That day she would first meet the man who would become her husband. That day she found purpose in a purposeless existence. She started forming more bonds than she knew what to do with. This roomful of people cared for her in spite of her circumstances. Granted some of them had their own rightful concerns at first, but time helps to mend bridges.

Anali couldn't think of a better way to spend her 'birthday' then surrounded by her friends, just chatting and eating. A few jokes were passed around them as they watched Frederick try to force bear down his throat. Needless to say Frederick wasn't exactly making the greatest of improvements.

Anali piled on the pastry horns onto her plate; when she turned back around she came face to face with Gaius who held out a small silver pendent by the chain in front of him. "Heya, Bubbles," he said, "I got you something."

She took it into her hands for a better look. It was a hummingbird with a small glass ball kept in place by the birds beak and tail. Inside the ball was a tiny sliver of something that carried pastel colors. "Heck of a thing, too," Gaius said while he released the chain. "Probably work a large sack in suns at the market."

"Then I can't take this," said Anali. "Not if it cost you that much."

"Eh, _might_ have stretched the truth on that a bit," Gaius said with a shrug. "It'd be worth a sack of suns assuming they paid for sentimental value… 'Cause I made it myself."

"You _made_ this?" Anali asked holding the pedant up to her eyelevel again. "B-But the details in the bird? And that little marble thingie, did you-"

"Make it? Nah. It's just something I've been holding onto for a while. See, it's got a little sliver of opal in it, delicate stone, you know?"

"So you used it in a necklace?"

"Hey, it's shiny, it's pretty-"

"It's beautiful."

"Pleased you like it, Bubbles," he said with a somewhat smug smirk. "Makes all the effort worthwhile."

Anali's brow furrowed and her eyes narrowed. There was something about Gaius' smile that told her that he had some form of ulterior motive. Again. "And you did this because…?" she asked.

"No reason in particular," he rubbed the back of his neck and made and effort to avoid eye contact with her. "None at all. Just… really good timing."

"You're trying to bribe me again!" snapped Anali. She hissed out through clenched teeth, "Gods, how many times do I have to tell you, I'll keep your secret! I gave my word, shouldn't that be the end of it?!"

"Yes, it should," Gaius said holding his hands up in front of him for a moment. "I trust you, okay. Honest. But in my business, there's no such thing as a free meal. Gal who says she'll do something for nothing? That person is usually the first one wanting payback down the line."

Sighing, Anali looked down at the floor for a moment. Looks like there was only one way to finally end this. "Well, in that case it looks like I have something important to share with you," she said. Ignoring his befuddled expression she leaned forward, and whispered something into his ear.

A moment later Gaius burst out laughing and almost blew out Anali's eardrum in the process. He braced a hand against the table to keep himself upright. "And with a chicken…?!" he choked out. "You did _not_ do that!"

Anali looked down at the floor with a slightly reddened face. The story she had just shared with him was completely fabricated. If she had any embarrassing memories she would have used one of those instead, but the worst she could think of was the time Chrom walked in on her bathing, and vice versa. But that wasn't really an option. "Yes, yes," she said, "And now you're the only one who knows. Does that _finally_ make us even?"

Wiping his eyes, Gaius stood back up. "I see what you did there," he said bluntly. "And… I appreciate it. All right. Fine. Deal." He pointed at the necklace still in Anali's hand, "But you to have keep the pendant. It's not a bribe, more like a… you know… thank you gift, birthday gift, take your pick."

"In that case," Anali silently clasped the necklace around her neck, "I accept."

She yelled out when something, a strip of cloth perhaps, suddenly slipped over her eyes, she could feel someone's hands fiddle around with the fabric at the back of her head. "Too tight?" she heard Chrom ask from behind her.

"What are you doing?" asked Anali.

"Keeping you from seeing anything."

"Obviously. Why, though?"

"You'll see," said Chrom.

He took her by the hand and lead her, presumably out of the mess hall. Anali wasn't sure what to think with the secrecy and the blindfold. Had Lissa been the one to do this she would have been certain that the Cleric had something unsavory planned for her, but Chrom? Who knew.

The sent of hay and the sound of horses filled her nose and ears when they finally came to a stop. After Chrom released her hand Anali could hear the sound of excited giggles; the voices owner sounded suspiciously like Sumia. When the blindfold came off Anali was greeted to the sight of a Pegasus.

Its black coat shined after being cleaned relatively recently. Clay beads decorated its black mane and tail. The tack it wore looked like it had just come fresh off the market and bore the Brand of the Exalt. Sumia stood beside the mare, almost bouncing in place out of sheer excitement. Anali looked back up at Chrom with her mouth slightly opened, silently asking him if this meant what she thought it meant.

"Her name is Amalthea," Chrom explained, smiling at Anali's dumbstruck look. "I confess I needed Sumia's help in finding her, as my knowledge of horses is limited. But both Sumia and the mare's previous handler say she'll work well with you."

Anali leapt up, wrapping her arms around Chrom's neck, which was not the most easiest of feats for her. He returned the gesture by wrapping his arms around her waist and brought her closer to him, which successfully lifted Anali of the ground. He had aimed to find Anali something that would make him Husband of the Year, and Sumia had suggested on getting her her own Pegasus. That was an idea Chrom liked right off the bat, as Anali's riding had improved in the last year and it could be easy to think that she rode for a couple of years before.

"Oooh, I can't wait any longer!" Sumia squealed. "Why don't you take her for a ride?"

The Exalt and his wife looked back at their friend. Chrom knew that the moment between them was gone, as Anali was more than anxious to get on Amalthea's back now. But that was a plus side to marriage, there was always another chance for moments.

Sumia gave Anali a couple of sugar cubes, and instructed her to approach Amalthea slowly, show her that she wasn't a threat. After a few minutes of bonding Anali lead Amalthea outside; she put her foot into the stirrup and pulled herself up. She seated herself onto the saddle; a feeling of euphoria and excitement filled Anali as she tapped her heel against Amalthea.

The mare took off into a trot before she unfolded her wings. With a couple of flaps they were up into the evening air. Amalthea was _her_ Pegasus. Not one of the Shepherds she was borrowing, but hers. This opened new doors for battle strategy, Amalthea gave Anali a new sense of freedom. For a moment Anali felt like she could take on the world.

* * *

**Authors Note: **Okay, you have no idea how many names I went through for that Pegasus! You have no idea!

I'm conflicted. _If's_ Japanese release is just around the corner and I don't know what to do? Do I keep myself spoiler free for six-plus-months, or dive into spoilers and start taking notes to plan it's fanfic? Because, God fuck me sideways I want to give _if_ the Embers treatment! I even have a name picked out for my Avatar! And I think my husbando may end up being Marx, Leon, and/or Joker (though I'm not really holding my breath for Awakening-style in-game marriage)! Ah! I don't know what to do! _*sobs mathematically into hands*_

On a more serious note, considering the last two chapters were a chore to write, I think I'm going to take a short break and work on editing previous chapters. Nothing that would require rereading, just fixing some errors that slipped under the radar, and fixing a couple of lines that bugged me in hindsight maybe decided on my own character hair/eye color (Liam I'm looking at you). And work on a story that's been floating around in my head for years.

But, to hold you over until I start posting new chapters, I can say that we're closer than ever to receiving baby news.

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	24. Chapter Twenty-Four

**Chapter Twenty-Four  
Boys and Girls Like You and Me**

"I can't thank you enough for doing this for me," Anali said, passing a long, thin box to Olivia. "Can't really hide it in our room."

"It's no problem," Olivia replied with a smile. "I think it's a nice gesture after the pegasus Chrom got you."

"Yeah. But I feel like he kinda set the bar as far as birthday gifts come…"

Not a day went buy where Anali wasn't looking for an excuse to go riding with Amalthea. Over a month had passed and she was still exhilarated by the notion that she had her own pegasus. At first Anali went out flying at least once a day, she would still fly often, but she allowed Amalthea to rest her wings with a few days in between. She'd fly by herself, or take along anyone willing to go with her.

March concluded shortly after her 'birthday,' and April passed without much of a hitch. Anali was present for several meetings to get her philanthropy project off the ground. There was a perfectly abandoned home within walking distance of the church; with a little renovation it should work perfectly for the food center.

In that time Liam had married his ladylove, Lazuli and the two were living in a small apartment in Ylisstol. The wedding was relatively small, consisting of members of the Shepherds and a few castle workers Lazuli had befriended, the service was, once again, preformed by Libra. Shortly after there were rumors spreading around that not only had Miriel purchased a wedding dress, but she and Vaike were beginning to look for a house together. Some speculated that they themselves would marry before the year was out.

When May rolled around Anali already had a good idea what to give Chrom for his birthday. So, with something in mind Anali discussed it diligently with Benny. The blade was taken straight from a Valmese history book, said to be used by their own legendary hero. Three day's before the twenty-seventh Benny summoned Anali to his shop to reveal his work. It was spectacular; the perfect addition to Chrom's collection. Now she needed to keep it hidden for a couple of days; Olivia offered to hold onto it for her.

"May I see it?" Olivia asked her.

"Oh, sure," Anali said with a nod.

Biting her lower lip, Olivia opened the box. While she never picked up weapons that much in the past (something that had changed since she joined the Shepherds) Olivia developed an appreciation for the art of weaponry. It was something she kind of had to develop after becoming the ward to a man like Basilio. The blade looked like it could slice through steel, and the hilt was beautifully detailed with pieces of ruby and obsidian embedded in it. "Oh, that's lovely. Though I must say I never quite pictured either of you with a sword like this."

In unison Olivia and Anali looked up to find Cordelia standing beside them with a book of music under her arm. "Sorry," Cordelia said bowing her head slightly, "I didn't mean to pry."

"Perfectly okay," Anali said with a smile, maybe this was a sign that things between them were starting to get better. "It's actually Chrom's birthday gift. Olivia's just holding onto it for me."

"But he already has a sword," Cordelia pointed out. "Ylisse's most treasured sword."

"Oh, I know. But he's got a collection of replicated swords from various historical figures, like the Falchion circa the Hero-King's time. I think I'm going to get him a baker's dozen of apple fritters too."

"Apple fritters?" Olivia asked curiously.

"Yeah," Anali rubbed the back of her neck. "I know he's got a bit of a soft spot for them."

"I didn't…" Cordelia whispered.

"Huh?"

"N-nothing," the red head said quickly. "I should be going."

And she was gone before either Anali or Olivia could ask what the rush was. Anali's brow creased as she watched Cordelia disappear out of the room. She was just about ready to give up on trying to understand what she had done to Cordelia, and why she couldn't stand to be in the same room as Anali. "Thank you again, Olivia," Anali said through a sigh. Taking in a deep, calming breath, she tried to smile. "Think I'll squeeze in a bit of swordplay next."

Olivia bit the corner of her lower lip. Oh, dear. How did she put this delicately? "But Lon'qu's out training," she said.

"I know. I'm hoping to get a little sparring in if he's willing."

The timid dancer looked nervous. Her friendship with Lon'qu had gotten to the point that he was okay with venting his general problems to her. The memory made her smile because of how quick he was to apologize when he realized what he had done. "My apologizes," he said, quickly sheathing his sword. "These problems are mine alone, I shouldn't be shoving them in your face."

"No, no!" Olivia said quickly. "Tell me your problems so I can help."

What had surprised her was how much she wanted to hold his hand again after she said that.

Lon'qu had ranted to her about Anali. How she went all out to mock him while training, and every moment in between. How it had been going on ever since he was given to the Shepherds. And how he was at his wits end with her. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Olivia asked. "I fear he's in need of a break."

"Oh, nonsense," Anali said allowing her hand to swish through the air. "I'm just making communications between us easier."

Olivia bit her lip again. Pelting a person with fruit made communication easy?

Cordelia was in no rush, but she simply couldn't stay in Anali's presence while Liam's words repeated themselves over and over, _"Then what's his favorite color? What does he like for dessert? His favorite season? Favorite place to be? How does Chrom like to relax? What's the one thing that annoys him the most?"_

Fine! Fine, Cordelia would admit it, she knew _nothing_ about the Exalt! She loved a man she hardly even knew; there was a woman who could pick up on his favorite desserts, and that he had a sword collection. And what luck! _He was already married to her!_

_Oh, stop it!_ Cordelia told herself. _Just stop it!_

She told herself she wouldn't be like this anymore after Stahl took his fall in Elrond. There was no doubt that Phila and her squad were shaking their heads at her from wherever they were. Cordelia was doing a disservice to them, and her squad's sacrifice by becoming this entitled brat whenever the Exalt was involved. Their legacies deserved better.

Without even realizing it, Cordelia had bumped into someone, causing her to drop the music in her arm. "Whoops, sorry 'bout that," she heard Gaius say. He scooped her music book up and handed it back to her.

"No, it was my fault," said Cordelia, "I wasn't paying attention."

Gaius scratched at his nose. "In all fairness, neither was I," he mumbled into his hand.

"What was that?"

"Nuthin'."

Cordelia had to arch a brow as she studied the ginger haired thief. His hair had been cleaned, and he was even in some decent casual wear. Cordelia sniffed the air, was he using Virion's soaps?! "Okay, who are you and what have you done with our Gaius?" she asked him accusatorily.

"What? Aren't you the one who was ragging on me for not being presentable, Mother?"

"Yes, making yourself presentable, not making yourself Virion II."

"Isn't that going a _bit_ far?" Gaius asked with his arms crossed over his chest and an eyebrow raised.

"You've been using his soaps," Cordelia told him bluntly. "It's like you're trying to impress someone."

She almost jumped in surprise when Gaius' face flushed. His hand reached into his pockets. "Can't I change things up every so often?" he said, briskly pushing pass Cordelia. "Are we done now, Mother?"

Gods on high, did Gaius have himself a sweetheart?

Cordelia shook her head. She heard the rumors the Shepherds spread amongst themselves, and while Cordelia would listen, she decide a long time ago that she would not be the one to start them.

Holding her music book close to her, she continued to the 'music room' as she liked to call it. The closer she got to it, the more she could already hear the sweet sounds of delicate strings. She peeked inside to find Stahl, his brow knitted together, his eyes firmly focused on his harp. When he gently placed his hands on the strings to silence them, Cordelia took the opportunity to applaud him.

Surprised, Stahl looked up, and a slight blush formed on his cheeks. "C-Cordelia," he said, unsure of what else to say.

"I'm impressed," Cordelia said flouncing to the stool beside her own harp. "You've been playing a relatively short time, but I would have thought it'd be more like a couple of years if I didn't know any better."

"I've been practicing like a madman until I'm good enough to play with you," Stahl confessed, "Even if my fingers become bloody and raw, or if my eyes-"

"Well, it's good to have a goal," Cordelia cut him off. Wow, and people called her dedicated.

"Hey, I'm just trying to be as dedicated to things as you are, Cordelia."

She laughed weakly. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. Cordelia liked Stahl as he was now. Was it that desire that caused him to shove her off Dante that day in Elrond? "Well," she said with a slight sigh. "I actually thought I'd to a little practicing myself."

"Don't mind me then," Stahl said quickly with both hands up in defense.

Silently, Cordelia sat herself beside her own harp, and readied herself by it. Her hands where outstretched, fingers hovered over the strings. Inhaling, she plucked at a single string. "Wow, you played that note so beautifully," Stahl said dreamily.

Cordelia's head snapped in his direction. "Huh?" she questioned, utterly confused. "No, I didn't!"

Shoot, he said the wrong thing, didn't he? "No, I mean…" his voice trailed off, searching desperately for the right word, "The tone was lovely!"

"Stahl, it's just one note," Cordelia said irritably. "Could you even tell what piece I was about to play? Would you please let me finish?"

"Y-yes," Stahl said sheepishly. "Right. Sorry. Go ahead."

But it was gone. Any desire Cordelia had to play was just gone. Between admitting that Liam was right about her not knowing anything about the Exalt, and Stahl's unwanted praise she was just feeling so irritated right now she was afraid she may end up breaking one of the strings in her frustration.

"You know what," she said. "I don't really feel like playing right now. Think I'll go for a quick ride instead."

"But, Cordelia!" Stahl tried to argue. But it was too late. She had taken her music and left the room without another word.

"Enough, Anali!" Lon'qu finally snapped.

He tried to ignore it. He told himself that it would pass. But months went by and nothing changed. Lon'qu had reached his breaking point. "What?" the tactician asked innocently with her hands behind her back and head listed to the right. "What'd I do?"

"Don't play dumb. You've been mocking both me and your training. Don't deny it."

Anali pouted slightly. "How so?"

"Just now, you've been adopting a curious expression and poked me in the ribs."

"But you've been relatively relaxed around me, haven't you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how I stand close, yet you haven't even broken a sweat."

Lon'qu opened his mouth slightly, but nothing came out. Anali had inched her way close to him, less than an arms length away, and it had only just dawned on him. "Gods above…" he uttered, stunned. How did he miss it? How was this even done? "What witchcraft is this?"

"No magic, I swear," Anali said with her hand over her heart. "Just two comrades-in-arms who've grown accustomed to each other. I apologize for my behavior, I was just trying to help. After our initial introduction, and I witnessed your phobia of women, I thought if I acted strangely enough, you'd be distracted, you'd forget all about it."

Crossing her arms, Anali added under her breath, "Granted it lasted longer than I expected."

Suddenly, Lon'qu was beginning to see their interactions within the past year with a new light. The chases Anali had given him, the teasing, Lon'qu had come to expect it these days. "If you aren't a con artist of the highest order," he murmured.

"I shall take that as a compliment," Anali said with a bold, tooth bearing smile.

Lissa peered over the corner of the garrison with her latest needlework tucked under her arm. She spotted Gaius, standing with is back to her, at a crossroad in the hallway. An impish smile played upon her lips, oh gods on high she couldn't resist! She placed her needlework under her arm, and quietly tiptoed up to Gaius. She quickly reached up, placing her hands over his eyes as she exclaimed, "Guess who?!"

The yell Gaius let out was high pitched and squeaky, he jumped back, whipping around to look at his 'attacker' only to find Lissa with a tooth bearing grin. "Sorry," Lissa said with a slight, snorty giggle. "Did I startle you?"

"U-uh…" Gaius cleared his throat, "N-not really, no…"

"Really?" Lissa asked, scooting up close to him. "It certainly _seemed_ like that."

"Look, you shouldn't sneak behind people and cover their eyes like that! Sometimes I think you could stand to be a bit more princess-like…"

"I'll remember that next time we're out on the battlefield!" Lissa said poking him in the chest. She smiled, smugly. "Well, now you're going to feel super guilty when I show you the gift I brought! Ta-da!"

She extended her hands, showing Gaius her latest attempts at embroidery. Gaius' expression relaxed as he took it into his hands. "Lissa, did you make this?" he asked in awe.

"I've been practicing. Can you tell?"

"Well, yeah," Gaius said looking down at the decent caricature of an orange cat. "It looks like a real cat, not one of your… 'unique' ones."

"See? I wouldn't make such a bad wife."

"Never thought you would," Gaius murmured.

"Why _Gaius_, you old charmer," Lissa said with her eyes as big as she could muster. She scooted up even closer to him, causing Gaius' heart to flutter.

Gods on high, what was he thinking? If this kept up, people would get the wrong idea, and people would talk. They would talk about the lowborn thief who was trying to worm an easy way into the royal treasury. The thief who originally came to murder Exalt Emmeryn, sure Gaius had no idea that was the case, but the gossipers wouldn't care about that. They would just see the naïve princess who couldn't see she was being tricked. No. This had gone on long enough, he needed to stop this before he went way too far.

"When you…" his voice trailed off for a moment, "When you bat your eyes at me like that… people might get the wrong idea…"

"No they wouldn't," said Lissa. She shook her head, her pigtails bouncing playfully all the while. "Because they'd be right."

"They would?" Gaius asked, hope was beginning to swell up in his chest. Had he been wrong about his pipedream? Had he not been so foolish when he thought to give the ring he had been holding onto to her. "T-then, if you think I'm worthy, d-do you think…"

Grinning boldly, in spite of her red face, Lissa pointed straight at Gaius, the tip of her finger just centimeters from his nose. "You're going to say you love me and ask me to marry you right now," she said in her most commanding voice. "And that's an order!"

Gaius blinked twice and burst out laughing. "If I knew it would be that easy I would have done it along time ago," he said. He got the ring out from his pocket, then he took Lissa's hand, sliding the ring onto her finger. Slowly, he sunk onto one knee, still holding her hand in his. "I love you, Princess. Will you marry me?"

Lissa's smile softened. The ring was rather thin, but stylized into flowers and vines the closer it got to the rose quartz gem. It was perfect. Lowering herself down, Lissa pressed her lips against Gaius'; she could taste the lingering candy residue on her fiancé's lips.

* * *

They didn't tell Chrom and Anali until the next morning, after they spent most of the night in the stable to write a letter to Gaius' parents. After they sent the letter out they decided that Lissa brother and sister-in-law would be the first to hear the news through word of mouth. So, they announced it to them that morning at breakfast. "Wait," Chrom said, lightly pressing his fingers to his temple. "You're what?"

Rolling her eyes, Lissa let out an exasperated sigh. She held her hand up and pointed at the ring on her finger. "We're. Getting. Married," she said annunciating each word.

Anali practically launched herself out of her chair, and threw her arms around Lissa. "That's wonderful!" she said, pulling apart from her. Beaming, she held her arms out to Gaius. "Hug me, brother!"

Gaius' eyes wandered to the side as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I dun-"

He was cut off mid-sentence when Anali grabbed him by the shoulder, then hugged him around the neck. Gaius was stuck between trying to pull away or just accepting it. "Better get used to having 'prince' be part of your name from now on," Anali said in a sing-song tone.

"You're seventeen," Chrom told Lissa finally. He pointed an accusatory finger at Gaius. "And you're twenty."

"Okay, so we know our ages," Gaius deadpanned. "Thanks Blue."

"What's the big deal?" Lissa asked, crossing her arms. "You have no idea how old Anali is, but you married her regardless." She gestured to herself and Gaius. "_We_ know there's a three year difference for us."

Anali's mouth twisted to the side, her eyes followed. True Anali didn't know her exact age, but she _felt_ like she was twenty or twenty-one. She could never really describe it, she just had a feeling. But that wasn't something she was about to bring up right now. "Will you relax, Blue," said Gaius. "It's not like we're just going to pull a Whitmore and get married today."

"Yeah," Lissa added. "We've agreed to wait another year at minimal."

"What the heck is 'pulling a Whitmore?'" Anali asked.

"You know," Gaius said allowing one hand to talk with him, "the way Butler and Stumbles eloped the day he put the ring on her finger."

"Oooh."

"I still think you're both rushing this," Chrom said with one hand running through his bangs.

"I don't think they're rushing it anymore than we did," Anali argued. "At least they've agreed to wait a bit, and they can afford to wait."

Chrom looked up at Anali to find a particular glare in her eyes. It was a look that was usually reserved for the battlefield, and the message was clear; '_I will counter every argument you have, and I _will_ win.'_ Sighing, Chrom got up from his seat and pulled Lissa into a hug. "If you're sure about it," Chrom said through another sigh. "I'll support it."

Lissa let out a tooth bearing grin, squealing happily as she returned the embrace. When they parted, she grabbed Gaius by the arm. "Come on!" she said happily. "We still have to tell Maribelle!"

Gaius' face paled. "You sure you don't want to do it yourself?" he asked.

"What? No! We gotta do it together!"

Lissa pulled the thief out of the room by the arm, marching to a beat only she could hear. As soon as they left Anali's head snapped in Chrom's direction with a hard glare in her eyes. "What?" he asked, sitting back at the table.

"If you're going to be one of those psychos who can't stand the idea of the girl in their life seeing a boy," Anali said sitting across from him. "I can tell you right now you will never have to worry about that with our daughters. Or children."

Chrom simply stared at her with wide eyes as Anali nonchalantly bit into a slice of buttered bread. She wouldn't threat such a thing… right?

He hand to tap his fists against his chest a couple of times to clear his throat. "Well, now that is just the two of us," he said. "I'd like you to know that the Shepherds will be marching out soon enough."

Anali's brow rose when she heard this. "What for?" she asked. "Bandits, Risen, or politics?"

"None, actually. We've been looking into these rumors about a hidden village that claims to house a descendent of the Radiant Hero. If these rumors hold any water, then a warrior like that will be very welcomed on our crusade against Risen."

Anali rubbed the left side of her temple. "So you want us to go on a wild goose chase to find a village that may or may not exist, and recruit a man who may or may not exist?"

Of all the foolish…

Maribelle was clearly less than thrilled when Lissa happily relayed the news. Mercifully Lissa didn't seem to notice, but Gaius did. Twinkles eyes glared straight at him with full force. "That's wonderful news, darling," she said forcing a smile. She reached out to take Gaius by the arm. "Mind if I speak to your lucky man for a moment? Thank you kindly!"

Immediately, Maribelle pulled Gaius into her room, closed the door, and practically tossed him against the wall. "Call it off," she demanded. "But break it to her gently."

"Uh… pardon?"

"Call off the engagement," Maribelle repeated. "And break it to Lissa as gently as possible. I've no idea why, but she does seem attached to you, and the last thing I want is to see her little heart shatter."

"Look, Twinkles, I think the only thing we have in common is that we both love Lissa. So do you think we can at least be civil for her sake?"

Maribelle let out a low, hallow laugh. "And I'm sure you hope that I might _forgive_ you?" she asked not even bothering to hide the mockery in her tone. "And then we might become oh-such-good-friends? I think not!" She jabbed her finger into Gaius' shoulder twice as she continued. "You broke into the royal treasury with the intent of stealing from the realm. And then you did it _again_!"

"Look, I know that, okay?" Gaius said, moving her hand away from him. He wasn't about to add that thieving was part of his job description, so what did she expect? But he sensed that it wouldn't get Maribelle onto the side of Team Gaius.

"Then I'm sure you know that you were caught during your first raid of the treasury?" Maribelle inquired. Her face was beginning to turn beat red while her voice was raising dangerously high. "You clamed my dear _father_ was behind it! He was hauled in front of the magistrate and almost put to death because of you!"

Gaius placed a finger over his lips. "Can we keep it down, Twinkles? I think we have an audience outside the door. Look, that wasn't one of my proudest moments in an attempt to avoid the noose, but if you give me a few minutes I can explain everything."

"If I want a dog and pony show, I shall attend a carnival. After I've told Lissa before she makes the biggest mistake-"

"She already knows."

Maribelle's eyes snapped wide open when she heard this. "I told her last night, okay," Gaius explained. "I wasn't going to let it go that far without telling her the part I played in Shalom's near-death. I also told her what I'm about to tell you, if you would just give me a few minutes."

She crossed her arms and stared at the ginger for a moment. As awful as it was there was a part of Maribelle that hoped it would have come to this. But in her head Lissa wouldn't want anything to do with Gaius, then her treasure could be _her_ treasure again. "I'm listening," she said curtly.

"After I was caught, someone approached me," Gaius explained, keeping his eyes off her. "They wanted me to say Shalom was behind it or else…"

Maribelle's eyes softened slightly. "Or else what?" she asked. "Gaius, did they threatened to kill you?"

Sighing, Gaius placed his forehead into his waiting hand. "No, Twinkles. Not me."

"Then _who_?"

"Who do you think?"

Her pupils shrank. Her face paled. Her blood ran cold. But… No. No. He was… he was lying, wasn't he? In a moment of pathological panic Maribelle tore the door open and sprinted down the hall, desperate for fresh air.

A week passed, Ylisstol celebrated their Exalts twenty-first year, and their Princess' engagement. Maribelle was a little distant from not only Gaius, but Lissa as well. The Griffon Riders were working vigilantly, the most promising were being stationed at the borders, and summer was on its way.

That day Nowi found herself a spot in the library. Her face and clothes were littered with inkblots with crumpled sheets of paper surrounding her, evidence of her many half-baked ideas. She hardly paid attention to the door opening. "My goodness, Nowi," she heard Libra said as he walked by with a pile of books in his hands. "Dare I ask what all this is?"

"I'm trying to make a strategy, like Anali does," Nowi explained. "I was thinking that if I had a set plan, we might be able to find your heart faster."

"You're still on about that?"

"Of course! If anyone needs their hurting healed, it's the same man who prays for the lost lives when we battle humans."

That surprised Libra, he wasn't completely sure if anyone noticed. Yes, Libra would often pray for the lives lost during battle, no matter who they were. People could always change, those people, Plegians or bandits, could have turned themselves around, but would never get the chance now.

He was a little surprised to hear that Nowi knew he did this. It wasn't something he announced, partially because he preferred to pray in silence. "So," Nowi said looking down at her papers again. "I thought I should get organized and try to come up with the perfect strategy that's sure to help!"

Libra smiled to himself as he put the books he borrowed back onto the shelf. "If I may say, Nowi," he began, "I do not think I've met anyone with a heart as big as yours."

The Manakete's eyes lit up when she heard this. "Whoa! Really?"

"Yes, you are quite remarkable," Libra said, turning to her with a kind smile. "I'm very blessed to have you fighting for my cause."

With a pink blush on her face, Nowi couldn't help but grin. "I think I like being remarkable!"

Olivia sat down on the grass, fiddling with her fingers while her heart pounded in her chest. Lon'qu was trying for the clean cut on the water flask once more. There was a few moments of silence with Lon'qu just readying himself with some calming breaths. In a flash he removed the sword from its sheath. The sword gleamed in the sun for an instant as Lon'qu slashed at the flask. He stood still for a moment, his sword hand outstretched, but the flask remained still, completely unshattered. "Huh?" Olivia breathed out. "Did you miss?"

A small smirk played upon his lips. "Look again."

The dancer girl looked back at the flask. There was a thin line at the neck of the flask. "Oh my gosh, you did it!" Olivia squealed, leaping onto her feet.

"It would appear I've succeeded at long last," Lon'qu said, sliding the blade into its sheath.

"I'm so proud of you!" Olivia exclaimed with a bold grin.

Lon'qu froze up at her side. He held his breath for an instant, and his eyes had seemed to shrink. What warranted this reaction when it should have been a high point for him? She looked down to see her hand in his. "Sorry!" she said quickly, snatching her hand back; she rubbed the palm against her clothes. "I guess I kind of grabbed your hand… I-I know you don't like being touched, but I just got so excited and-"

"I don't mind," Lon'qu said forcing himself to look away. "If it's with you."

The dancer girl's face turned red. "Y-you don't?!" she questioned. "Oh, gods… this is so embarrassing!"

"You're the one who grasped my hand."

"I know, but…" Olivia forced herself to look at the ground with a hand grasping at her forehead, "it's complicated."

There was an awkward silence between them that was getting worse by the second. Clearing his throat, Lon'qu fiddled with his shirt. "In any case," Lon'qu broke the silence. "I must thank you for helping me master this, I really couldn't have done it without you, Olivia. You've… made me stronger. And that is why I would like to offer you this…"

Confused, Olivia slowly looked up to find Lon'qu, completely red in the face, with his arm stretched out to her. In his hand was a small box; she held her own hands out, creating a net for the item as it slid out of Lon'qu's fingers. Holding her breath, Olivia opened the box to find a very pink ring. "Oh, it's so pretty!" Olivia said dreamily. She froze in place once she realized what a ring generally meant. She looked back up at Lon'qu. "D-does this mean…?"

The myrmidon placed a hand in front of his face in a futile attempt to hide his blush. "I would…" he forced out, "I would like us to marry."

"I thought you didn't like women?"

"I don't…" Lon'qu said upon clearing his throat. "As a rule. But you are no ordinary woman. With you, I feel no embarrassment." In a bold move he reached out to take her hand into his. "I do not tremble, or grow tongue-tied, or-"

"_Oh_!" Olivia's eyes widened in realization. "You don't actually dislike women at all, do you? You just get nervous around us!"

"Are you saying I'm scared?" Lon'qu inquired with a slight twitch in his brow. "Of women? Absurd! Because I'm not… mostly not."

Olivia placed a delicate hand in front of her mouth, muffling her giggles. "Why are you laughing?" the myrmidon asked tensing up once more. Damn it, was she about to say no?

"Don't you see?" Olivia asked, gripping his hand. "This means we're exactly the same! We both get embarrassed, and we both have a hard time around people! We're going to get along _perfectly_!"

Lon'qu blinked. "D-does that mean… you accept my proposal?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Olivia asked, placing the ring on her finger. "I must confess, I've liked you for quite some time, Lon'qu."

A very small, but very genuine smile happened upon Lon'qu's ever reddening face. It was going to be different this time, Lon'qu wouldn't allow history repeat itself and let another girl close to him die. Olivia was not going to leave this world through the hands of another. "I am delighted to hear that," Lon'qu said in earnest. By now, they were holding each others hands, both of them, with their fingers laced. "I hereby vow to never leave you side... I dedicate my sword to protecting you."

Olivia smiled another tooth bearing smile. "And I promise to stay by your side as well for the rest of my life!"

Two weeks into June the Shepherds found themselves on one of Regna Ferox's sailing vessels headed West for the alleged 'hidden village.' Along the way they fought two different things, boredom, and seasickness. The two that were hit by this ailment the most were Anali, and Panne. The two stayed below deck with the horses, pegasi, and griffon. Panne had transformed, finding it to be more comfortable than her bipedal form. She must have been feeling very ill given she actually allowed Anali to rest against her side.

Panne's body shuttered; the moans rumbled from her throat. Anali wasn't quite sure what to look for while Panne was transformed like this. At leas twice she was afraid a certain groan meant that she was about to die. Gods, Anali hated sailing and being below deck like this was not helping at all. "Have you no fear lovely ladies," Gregor said entering the stable with a root in his hand. "Master Gregor have answers to all your problems!"

"A root?" Anali asked bluntly.

"Not just any root," Gregor said, pulling a kitchen knife out of his pocket. "Is ginger root, perfect cure-all for sickness on sea."

The sellsword cut a few slices and handed them to Anali. She slowly nibbled one of the slices, which only caused her stomach to churn. At her side she could hear a munching sound from Panne. "Give it few minutes," said Gregor

The taguel sucked in a breath, her breathing quickly became labored and Panne began gagging. She vomited onto the stable floor, successfully causing the horses to spook. Anali's stomach did a back flip as soon as the rancid smell reached her nostrils. "Oh, gods," she whimpered. It was going to come back to bite her in the arse, but she hurried onto her feet and ran outside for fresh air. "Are we there yet!?"

Panne lied in her spot, breathing through her teeth, the aftertaste was horrible. "Many apologizes," she heard Gregor say after a thump from a water filled pail. "Bit of a gamble on Gregor's part. Gregor knows full well that ginger not best for furry little bunnies. Took gamble at Panne's expense."

"You do…" the taguel shuttered, afraid she was going to throw up again, "you do not bear the blame." She shuttered again. "It was a gamble on my part as well. I knew that, but was desperate for relief."

Gregor remained respectfully silent as he mopped up the mess. "Want Gregor to sit with Panne until we dock?" he asked.

Panne shuttered when she was struck by another bout of nausea. The proud warrior in her said she could sit it out on her own. She could handle things on her own, as she had for most of her life. But there was no shame in admitting ones shortcomings she knew that, and Panne wasn't sure she could bear this torment alone. This Gregor was asking out of the goodness of his heart, it would seem cold and malicious to turn him down. "I-it would be much appreciated," she said.

Anali was just about draped over the starboard side rail. Her elbows planted firmly on the frame, her head was in her hands, her fingers were entangled with her roots. The ginger was not helping her much, even Chrom, who was rubbing her back, didn't help. She squeezed her eyes shut, a wave of nausea hit her, and her mouth was beginning to water. "Are we there yet?" she whimpered out.

"Not even close," Chrom said with a sympathetic smile.

Her blood was beginning to boil, she was just flat out tired of feeling like crud. She was starving, but dead afraid to eat anything for fear of it coming back up. Every waking moment was pure agony, she tried to get as much sleep as possible, as it was the only time Anali could get any relief. But each nap lasted a few minutes and they were always filled with abstract fever dreams. "Anali?" Chrom asked, reading the frustration on her face.

"This is _stupid_!" she snapped, turning towards her husband. "We've uprooted the Shepherds to find a man that may or may not exist, in a village that probably doesn't exist!"

* * *

"Okay, fine, I stand corrected," Anali crossed her arms over her chest, "hidden village exists, what does Anali know?"

"The real question," Chrom said, standing close to his wife, "is whether or not a descendant of the Radiant Hero truly resides here."

Three days after Anali's outburst they found themselves in the Garden of Giants, a training ground according to the locals. The village men would regularly spend their days there for a skirmish or two. According to the locals claims, the Radiant Hero's descendent was on this plot of land to train quite often. "What do you know about this Radiant Hero, anyway?" Anali asked with a raised brow. "I've never really been able to find anything in the history books."

"Just what the legends tell through word of mouth," Chrom explained, "that he's an unparalleled warrior from another world. They say he felled thousands with a divine blade blessed by Ashera herself."

From another world? That might explain why Anali could never find anything about him in her books. "And if his descendant exists and possesses even a tenth of his skill…" Anali said slowly.

"Exactly," Chrom finished. "It's as I said before, strength like that could be of great used to us against the Risen."

"This assumes he would even fight for you. Pretty bold assumption, that."

In unison the couple turned around to find a towering man, matching Chrom in stature, dressed in blue and white armor. He had wild blue hair and a bit of stubble on his chin. Even in its sheath his sword looked positively _ancient_, it was a wonder it hadn't disintegrated a long time ago. Anali let out a shrill yell, and quickly stepped back and grabbed Chrom by the arm like a frightened child. "Who are you?" Chrom asked.

"I'm Priam," the man introduced. "The hypothetical descendant you were just going on about."

Chrom visibly flinched with a slight blush on his face. So much for making a good first impression. "Well met, then," he murmured before clearing his throat. "I'm Exalt Chrom, of Ylisse, and this is my wife, Anali. I apologize if I sounded presumptuous just then." He paused for a moment to look Priam over once more. "Though I see I was clearly correct in my assumptions about your strength…"

"Flattery is cheap, friend," Pram said crossing his arms over his chest. "Very cheap. So, to what do I owe the honor? Ylissean royal's come all this way just to enlist me?"

"Yes, actually," Anali said with her pointer finger erect. "Risen are still a problem, and we could use all the help we can get."

Priam eyed the couple for a moment, gripping his chin in thought. "Interesting," he said thoughtfully. "But I've little interest in following someone else's orders…" His eyes fell upon Chrom. "Unless they're handed down by a man who can fight for himself."

"And if I prove myself such a man?" Chrom inquired.

A sly smirk played upon Priams lips. "Prove it and see," he replied simply.

Chrom couldn't help but grin when he heard this. "Right to the point, I see," he said. "I think I like you already."

"Easy there," Anali said, nudging him in the side with her elbow. "Treat a guy to dinner first." She looked back up at Priam, ignoring the blush on both men's faces. "We'll expect your men in twenty minutes."

Ten minutes later Anali looked down at her book of personal strategies. Even from a distance, Anali could see that Priam had himself quite the army, and his own strategy was being taken straight out of a Feroxi book. Priam was getting himself stationed behind his forty-nine men. It was not cowardice, it was apart of the challenge he wouldn't even give the Shepherds the time of day if they couldn't battle their way through his men.

However each member of Priam's army were very clearly seasoned warriors and mages. Which was why Anali did not want anyone to fight alone. The problem was that they currently had an odd number of units amongst the Shepherds. "I'll be fine on my own," Tybalt said stroking Falkor's feathers. "We're strong enough to hold out."

"There's still their Sages we need to worry about," Anali said. "Virion I want you to pair up with Cordelia, Ricken, you're with Sumia."

The idea was to dwindle down as many as Priam's men as possible before Chrom took him on himself. It was pretty clear that both men wanted a one-on-one with each other. So Chrom was seated in behind Anali on Amalthea as the Shepherds battled Priam's army below them. Sully had her usual zeal, she plowed through the battlefield, hurling a lance at a Swordmaster who was going head-to-head with Kellam.

Elaine stayed close to Donnel, the Cleric had taken to bringing an axe with her during battle. It was a wee bit jarring considering how she was when she first joined the Shepherds, but no one was about to complain today. The two worked skillfully with each other, watching each other's backs against the Sages.

Everyone was paired up on the field, some of them a bit more odd than the other, such as Frederick with Tharja. The Dark Mage looked like she wanted to kill someone, but was unsure of who exactly. Tharja already had a distaste for Frederick because of his Fanatical Fitness Hour, he only got off curse-free because Anali liked him.

Overhead, Tybalt and Falkor had successfully steered clear of stray arrows and spells. Tybalt's aim with an axe was nothing short of impressive, able to injure one of Priam's men from the distance. Chrom didn't make him captain of the Griffon Riders for kicks and giggles after all.

"I'm going in," Anali said, looking over her shoulder slightly to glance at Chrom.

She tapped her heel against Amalthea's ribs, urging her forward. Anali carried the Pegasus' reigns in one hand, and her lance in the other. The lance was designed by herself and Benny, meant to mirror her sword. It was sleek and white, with a few stones embedded at the top, below the blade, and the bottom of the staff. She could feel Chrom's hands around her waist as they glided over head, pass the other two pegasi, and the griffon.

Anali maneuvered Amalthea across the battlefield, Priam's forty-nine men dwindled down to seventeen. She pulled on the reigns, signaling for Amalthea to fly lower. The black Pegasus circled the field twice before she was low enough for Chrom to safely leap down.

He landed nimbly, his knees bent, and hand already on the hilt of his blade. Overhead his wife flew off, blasting one of Priam's men with an Elthunder spell. "Nice entrance," Priam said, removing his blade, Ragnell, from its own sheath. "I'm impressed. Now show me what you're made of!"

He whipped out Ragnell and aimed for the attack for Chrom's head. The Exalt successfully blocked it with Falchion, Chrom stepped around, guiding the blade towards Priam's side, only to have it blocked by his own sword. It went on like this for a while, the two blue haired men exchanging blows that were quickly blocked. They even successfully managed to travel in a full circle, twice.

Every so often the black Pegasus would circle around them before it went back into the fray. Anali knew it was something they both wanted, but she still couldn't help but worry when Chrom was so far away from immediate help if Priam injured him. The memory of her horrible nightmare came back to her, the dread alone made her just want to blast Priam and run into Chrom's arms. But if she interrupted their battle it would probably just lead into an argument. No, Anali would just keep it to herself, like usual.

This was not getting them anywhere; it was clear that strength alone was not going to win Chrom this battle. He drew his sword back as though he were about to strike again, when Priam went to block the blade it never came, and he nearly stumbled forward. Chrom turned towards his back, then connected his elbow to Priam's back, causing him to fall forward.

Priam had dropped Ragnell at his side. He quickly reached out to grab it, then Priam turned himself onto his back. The tip of Falchion was pointed strait at his neck, if it's wielder really wanted to Priam would be cut off from his windpipe. The two stared off with each other, both of them panting heavily.

Priam tilted his head back, chuckling to himself before he said, "You're good."

When the battle ended there were several lines of people waiting to see either a healer from the village or one of the Shepherds. Sully sat herself on a stump, trying to dress the wound on her arm with one hand until someone could take a look at it. From her expertise - not that she had any when it came to healing - it didn't look _that_ bad; just a graze from an arrow.

"Hey, Sully," Kellam said taking the strip of cloth and securing it around the wound for her. "I wanted to thank you for watching my back, back there."

"Hey, no sweat, pip-squeak," Sully said, smacking him playfully on the arm. "I reckon I owed you one for one damn thing or another. It's funny, I can't even imagine how I fought back if I didn't have you around. It feels good knowing someone's looking out for you."

"I know!" Kellam said, beaming. "I feel so much stronger when you're out there."

Sully smiled slightly. Ugh… this big dolt sometimes. "But it's even more than that, Kellam," she said. She avoided his gaze, and rubbed the back of her neck. "The way you want to help everyone else… You make me want to be a better person."

Kellam's face flushed when he heard this. These weren't words one would often hear from Sully, but that didn't make them any less genuine. "Um, well, funny you should say that…" Kellam rubbed the back of his own neck, "see, thing is… I'm more interested in protecting you _than_ anyone one else."

The red haired Cavalier raised an eyebrow at him. Kellam was practically built for defense, his armor was near impenetrable. Hell if something were to hurt him it was probably his own armor. "Oh?" she questioned, surprised.

"I like you, Sully," Kellam confessed, his face was red and his hands were clammy. "I _really_ like you. S-so I was thinking maybe… we could… get married?"

"Married?!" Sully repeated feeling like someone just punched her in the jaw. What surprised her the most; the fact that Kellam just proposed, or the fact that her first thought was 'yes?'

"Yeah, married," Kellam said with his hands out in front of him in defense, afraid that Sully might attack him for such a suggestion. "I went out and got you a ring and everything! O-okay the ring's back at the garrison, b-but-"

Sully looked a little pained. "I'm not much of a lady, y'know," she said. "Not sure I'd be much of a wife."

Immediately, Kellam reached out for her hand. "I think you'd be great!"

Her blush was almost as red as her hair. Laughing to herself, she ran her free hand through her bangs. "This… this kind of crap isn't easy for me," she admitted, "but… I like you, Kellam. I've… I've never felt this way about anyone before."

"So then… yes?" Kellam asked hopefully.

Slowly, Sully nodded, with a smile growing on her lips. "Yeah," she said. "All right, pip-squeak. Let's do it!" She slapped him on the shoulder. "I'll watch your back, you watch mine, and together we'll be unbeatable!"

Anali heaved, placing a pail of water in front of Amalthea. "There you go girl," she said, patting the mare on the neck.

"Seems I've been a big fish in a small pond for too long," she heard Priam say from behind her. She looked over her shoulder to find him speaking with Chrom. "I'd say it's time I saw the open sea again." He held his hand out in front of him. "Consider me signed up."

"Excellent," Chrom said, taking Priam's offered hand. They shook. "And welcome aboard."

Anali walked up to Chrom, who, without even looking, laced an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to his chest. "Y-you're leaving us, Priam?" one of his men asked with a voice shaking like a leave. "B-but we'll be adrift without you! You were inspiration to every man here!" The man cleared his throat. "And a true friend."

The tactician took a moment to look at Priam's little army. Really look at them. Priam's little army was actually a culturally diverse group. Anali could recognize some of the various uniforms they wore, Feroxi swordsmen, Plegian wyvern riders, Ylissean Pegasus Knights, even Knights dressed in red and gold, perhaps Valmese. "Wow," Anali said in awe. "You've a pretty diverse army here. How'd that happen?"

"They came to challenge me and never left," Priam replied, shrugging one shoulder.

The man straightened himself up, finding a resolve within those few short minutes. "We'll not hold you back, Priam," he told the man in question. "This world had a need of men like you. But… do us the honor of one last match before you set sail!"

Priam just about burst out laughing when he heard this. "All right, you're on!" he exclaimed. Priam paused for a moment before looking at his new captain. "Sorry, Chrom, I'll try to make this quick."

The Exalt shook his head. "Take the time you need, we're not setting sail right away."

The thought alone made Anali want to weep. "Can we just build a new castle and live here?" Anali asked looking up at Chrom as Priam took on each of his former warriors.

Her husband smiled slightly before he kissed her on the crown of her head. "There might be an uproar if we do that," he said, "considering this isn't Ylissean territory."

She pouted slightly, and leaned her head into his chest. "Then can you just knock me out when we get back onto the ship."

However, there was no need for that. Both Anali and Panne felt better than ever on the trip home. Panne spend the trip on two legs, while Anali happily played her ocarina for Olivia to dance two. It was nothing short of a miracle that neither of them felt ill. But Donnel knew better.

He searched the ship, trying to tell one room apart from the other. There were so few rooms on the ship for couples to share, it was either one sleeping quarters for the men and another for the ladies. There was one for the Exalt and his wife, unsurprisingly, and another for Mr and Mrs Whitmore, but Vaike and Ms Miriel would be separated on sea. Donnel really hoped he wouldn't have to peek into the ladies room.

But, thankfully, Tharja was in the stable, reading one of her spells books, or something of the like. "Heya, Tharja!" Donnel said, approaching her. "That's one mighty impressive hex of yours!"

The Dark Mage peered up from her book. "What are you talking about?" she asked dully.

"Well, it was your hex that cured the seasickness goin' 'round, right?"

"Childs play," Tharja said, using her book to hide her reddening face. "I only did it because I was bored and so Anali wouldn't suffer again."

Smiling still, Donnel crouched down in front of her. "I don't think that's true," he said. "I think it's 'cause you're not as mean as you want people to think."

"Oh?" Tharja inquired, her voice as stony as ever. "And why do you think that?"

Donnel stood up and tipped his pot helmet. "'Cause you cured Ms Panne too."

The Dark Mage sucked on her lower lip, her bangs hid her eyes as Donnel left the stable. Quickly she snapped her book close and began banging it against her forehead, muttered "Damn it," repeatedly.

* * *

A couple of weeks passed after Priam's recruitment. Unsurprisingly, he seemed got get along well with Lon'qu, and the two could be found training in the early hours of the day. The Shepherds marched out every so often when new of Risen reached their ears, Chrom was always hopeful that the monsters were almost at the bring of extinction, so to say.

Within those weeks Lon'qu and Olivia wrote to Khan Basilio about their intentions to wed, though they had not an idea of when. Anali liked to imagine that Basilio was ecstatic, even if he never showed it. And as promised, Kellam gave Sully the ring he bought her and they promptly informed their friends and family of their own engagement. Unlike Lon'qu and Olivia, or even Lissa and Gaius they had a rough idea of a wedding date. Sometime in the late spring or early summer.

Life was going on relatively peacefully.

Anali looked herself over in the mirror. Where an all white dress was probably going to bite her in the butt later on, but she couldn't help it if she liked what she liked. She was supposed to see various workers in the city for the apprenticeship program with Chrom that day. At long last, her projects were getting off the ground with the food center currently stocking up on food before it opened.

Anali ran her hand through her hair, deciding if she should bother putting it up when a wave of nausea splashed over her. Whimpering she crouched down, covering her mouth with one hand. She took in several calming breaths, silently praying for it to pass. Her shoulders relaxed when her prayer was answered. She must have come down with a minor bug, that was the third time that week that she was nearly sick. It always hit Anali hard, but it also passed. Nothing she was really worried about.

"Anali," Chrom said poking his head into their room. "I'm ready to go when you are."

"Okay," Anali said getting back onto her feet. Hopefully Chrom hadn't noticed. "Are we going to ride together, or not? And if we are I vote on taking Amalthea."

Shaking his head, he smirked slightly. "I almost regret getting you that Pegasus."

Anali pouted playfully. Her pout died quickly and was replaced with a smile as she grabbed Chrom by the hand. She pulled him down the hall, and they were soon at the stable. Cordelia was already there, putting a tack on Dante. "Oh," she said, turning around to see them. "G-good morning."

"Good morning Cordelia," Chrom greeted with a smile. "Going out for a ride?"

"Y-yes," she said avoiding eye contact with either of them. "I need to keep Dante in shape."

"I know what you mean," Chrom said with a slight laugh. "Lately I've had a hard time taking Telemachus out riding."

"Oh! I can try to help if you want," Cordelia offered.

"I couldn't-"

"No, I insist! I-I mean if he likes me. If not…"

Anali could hardly hear what Cordelia was saying. Her stomach was doing back flips, the world was spinning. It'll pass, it'll pass, it'll pass. It always passed… it always passed… Gods, why was it not passing! Her mouth was beginning to water. Oh no… oh no…

She shoved Chrom back to give her momentum, she ran out of the stable completely ignoring the calls from Chrom and Cordelia. Bracing herself against the doorframe she heaved, vomiting on the grass, right next to the stable entrance. Anali took a few breaths in, her mouth tasting utterly horrible, it was in this time that she was aware that someone was holding her hair back, away from her mouth. "Here," Chrom said, placing a pail of water at her side. "Drink this."

"_If_ you think you can hold it," Cordelia added from behind Anali, still holding her hair back.

Anali scooped handfuls of water to clean her chin, and try to wash away the aftertaste. "I think we should hold off on the meetings for a couple of days," Chrom said.

"No!" Anali argued, getting onto her feet.

"Anali, you're obviously not well. I'm sure everyone will understand if you take a couple of days off. They'll know it's not because you don't care. Stay here, and we'll have a healer see you."

"Chrom, I'm fine. It's just a bug, it'll pass."

"Anali!" Cordelia said, raising her voice a bit more than she expected. Well, she got herself started, may as well finish her piece. "You're body is clearly trying to tell you something, and you should listen to it. Last time you didn't listen to your body you ended up collapsing the next day. Please, see a healer at least, just to be sure it isn't anything serious."

Anali bit the inside of her cheek. Crossing her arms she sighed in defeat. "Fine…"

The healer Chrom made her see had been working for House Ylisse since his grandfather was Chrom's age. She was always the one to turn to whenever someone in the royal family fell ill. After Chrom explained to her what happened in the stable she asked to see Anali… alone. Which left Chrom waiting impatiently out in the hall.

He waited, his back planted against the wall, looking straight at the door the two disappeared in. Gods damn it all, why did the healer want him to wait out here? Chrom was her husband, shouldn't he know what was going on?

All Chrom could think about, whether it was illogical or not, was the lizard bite Anali received about a year ago. What if she wasn't as well as the Feroxi healer lead them to believe? What if the infection was back? Okay, vomiting did not sound like a symptom of the infection, but Chrom never realized how afraid he was of it coming back until now.

If the infection really did came back he would go straight to Ferox to get the flowers for her again. He'd bring back the entire garden if he had to.

Gods, what was taking them?

Chrom stood up straight when the door opened at long last. "You're sure?" Anali asked the healer. "You're _sure_?"

"Yes, yes, I've seen it enough to recognize it," the healer said, taking one of Anali's hands into both of hers. "Milady," she said before looking up at Chrom. "Milord."

Chrom watched as the healer walked down the long hallway. When he looked back at Anali her face had paled, and her eyes were wide. Her fingers lightly touched her lips, frozen in place while her breathing was shallow. It was the tears that slid down her eyes that cause worry in him. "What is it?" Chrom asked, approaching his wife, he took her face into his hands. "Anali, what's wrong?"

That broke Anali out of her trance. She looked up at Chrom, tears still flowing out of her eyes. "S-something…" she struggled to speak, "something wonderful has happened."

His brow knit together in confusion. Anali, on the other hand, smiled in spite of her tears. She placed one hand over Chrom's. "Chrom…" she said, just above a whisper, "I'm pregnant."

For a moment the world stopped spinning. His blood went cold, and a he felt a if only for a moment. Had he heard correctly? He must be mistaken. "What?" he asked dumbly.

"I'm with child," Anali laughed slightly as she squeezed Chrom's hand. "We're going to have a baby."

Chrom stared at his wife, his eyes were unblinking. "W-we're…" he struggled to find his voice. "A chi…"

A joyous laughter escaped his throat as he took Anali into his arms and spun them both in place. The action caused Anali to knock a heel into a podium that carried a bust of someone probably important, and it fell over, shattering on impact. Ignoring it Chrom held Anali so that they were at eyelevel; the grin on Chrom's face was downright boyish. "Any idea when?" he asked her.

"Late April, early May," Anali replied, "I'm about a month in."

"I-I can't believe it," Chrom said, pressing his forehead against Anali. "A child…"

Yes, a child. Anali could hardly believe it herself. The family she wanted was just around the corner now. Boy or girl Anali was going to love it with everything she had. They both would.

Anali blinked, Chrom smile had slowly died, and his brow knit together once again. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Calhoun…" Chrom said slowly, "he left a blood soaked legacy for Emm when he died. I don't… I don't want to do the same for our child."

"Chrom," Anali said, wrapping her arms around his neck. "We know better than Calhoun. Even if, gods forbid, something happens to us we're not going to leave a huge mess behind for our children to clean up."

* * *

**Authors Note:** Whoops…

So, we finally got baby news. I know plenty of readers have been looking forward to that since the wedding. I wasn't sure if Anali's reaction was a bit much, but considering how she reacted to Flavia's adoption proposal I'd say it was perfectly within her character. Especially since it's been made very clear that she wants children.

Also, hi Priam, you're here early.

There's three things that kept this chapter from being _Friendship Moments: The Chapter Part Three The Quickening_; Priam, baby news, and the fact that this chapter brings several couples together, and several on their way. We're almost at the end of the first year, we gotta baby on the way, I gotta start picking up the pace! (I'm hoping the next year goes by a bit faster.)

I rarely have these characters marry for stats and skill. So, I rarely find that Inigo suffers when he's Lon'qu's son. Lissa and Gaius… I really love their supports and when I started writing this I immediately saw the potential drama behind their relationship and Gaius' history with Maribelle's father. And it looks like Chrom's getting an outlaw… for an in-law. (I know I'm not funny…)

And Anali nips the _'my daughter/sister's dating, better grab the shotgun' _cliché in the bud. I fucking hate that, it can die slowly and painfully in a fire after being dunked in a vat of oil.

Also I vote Panne as most likely to get seasick. (Yarne actually has pretty good sealegs)

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	25. Chapter Twenty-Five

**Chapter Twenty-Five  
Under Impression**

A full two weeks passed before it was publicly announced to all of Ylisse that Queen Anali was with child, that an heir would be born come April. Needless to say the people were exuberant, even those who still doubted their Exalts choice in a spouse.

With those two weeks the couple told everyone they needed to tell personally. Lissa being amongst the top. And since Chrom was the one to tell Lissa about their engagement, Anali took it upon herself to inform Lissa about the pregnancy. And the perfect opportunity came up thanks to her own engagement. Mr. and Mrs. Bates sent letter back and forth with Gaius, looking for an opening in his father's schedule, and sending money to them to come visit Ylisstol.

Lissa pretty much took charge in readying the guest room for her future in-laws. Anali found the princess in one of the bigger suites; Lissa was speaking with a couple other people, one of them had a number of fabric swatches, Anali heard something about curtains a few times. Others was moving a few pieces of furniture into the room, a love seat, table and chairs, and a chest at the foot of the bed. "Lissa," Anali called. She tipped toed her way pass the men lugging in mahogany chairs. "Still picking curtains?"

"Well, yeah," Lissa said without looking at her. She held swatches in her hand as though weighing them against each other. "They're Gaius' parents, I want to make a good first impression."

Anali wanted to point out that she was the scion of the royal family. How could they _not_ be impressed by that? But she decided against it, it probably wouldn't calm Lissa's nerves at all. Being Ylisse's princess probably meant that she had to make a good impression every time someone important came to visit, even if it was her fiancé's parents.

Lissa's brow furrowed as she looked through swatch after swatch; desperate to find a good choice for the curtains. Anali was sure that if she stared long enough, she could see steam rising out of Lissa's ears. Over _curtains_. She really wanted his parents to like her.

"Actually," Anali said, taking one of the swatches in her own hands, "I think we'll be having another guest coming."

"Oh?" Lissa breathed out half-interested. "When?"

"Not for another… eh, seven or eight months. Though I think this one will be more permanent."

"Okay, great. Plenty of time for-"

Lissa's brow rose for a moment. A permanent guest? A permanent guest that won't be coming for seven or eight months? Dropping the swatch, Lissa turned to look at Anali. Was she implying what Lissa thought she was? "Are you…?" Lissa asked slowly. A small smile appeared on Anali's face. "Wait, you…? Really? _Really?_"

"I'm not due until April," Anali said with a brightening smile on her face.

A squeal of delight escaped from Lissa's lips. She threw herself onto Anali, causing her to take two steps back. Lissa squeezed her sister-in-law, giggling all the while. When Lissa pulled apart her eyes had lit up. "I want a niece!" she declared.

Anali's own smile slowly morphed from genuine to forced. "Great, Lissa," she said, "doesn't really work like that, but great."

Later that afternoon Anali had sent a letter to Flavia, informing her that she was going to be an aunt. The return letter made it sound like Flavia was still debating on whether or not to personally visit them. There were plenty of things that could tear the reigning Khan from her duties, but just the news of her sister's pregnancy alone wasn't one of them.

Friends would say that Anali was glowing. Her smile never faded, still exuberant about the news. She chatted non-stop with her future in-laws when they came to meet the girl their son fell for. Even the visit from Duchess Rebeck couldn't bring her down.

Anali was with child. She was closer to having the children she dreamed of, the _family_ she dreamed of. She just needed to wait until April, _April_, and then her son or daughter would be in her arms. Even if she wasn't showing yet, her child, Chrom's child, _their _child was growing inside her. Anali couldn't have been happier.

* * *

I throw the doors open to find myself in a war-torn hall. I recognize the room instantly, for I had seen it in a dream before. I can now identify the creatures as Risen, and I even recognize the soldiers uniform belonging to the Ylissean military.

Why am I seeing this again?

Keeping my back to the wall I inch my way around the room until a soldier is slammed against the wall by a Risen. The woman bites back a sob, the Risen breathes its haze onto her face. The Risen lifts its head, a sword has been plunged into its abdominal area. "I believe the woman you want…" a low, dangerous, and, more to the point, _familiar_ voice says, "is me!"

The voice's owner lifts her sword, slicing the Risen from its abdomen to its shoulder. The Risen froze for a moment before it disappears. The girl stands up, layered blue hair falls down her back. "We can't let these things win," she tells the soldier. "Now grab a sword, and fight!"

She turns around to face her subordinate, and my suspicions are confirmed.

It's Marth.

Was this the future Marth had warned about? A world where Risen appear to have over-populated? Would this had been a result of the Fire Emblem being stolen? How far into the future _was_ this?

A Risen comes barreling up to Marth, with her Falchion look-a-like she blocks the attack before its axe can touch her. Marth pushes herself away, sliding a few feet across the floor. Straightening herself, she thrusts herself forward, forcing her sword into the Risen's chest, killing it. Marth keeps her eyes on the Risen as it disintegrates; her head snaps up as another Risen stomps up to her.

Her sword blocks the second axe. Maneuvering herself around, Marth jumped up to give herself momentum as she attempts to attack the Risen. It misses, but she's still as impressive as ever. Landing, she looks over her shoulder, another Risen is running up to her.

The East wall explodes the moment Marth readies herself. I am thrown off my feet. I hear Marth cry out as debris is thrown about, the building we're in rumbles, and I'm sure the floor is beginning to crumble. I cover my head with my arms and wait for the tremors to stop.

Much like before, the hall is barely recognizable. Half the floor is still standing, and all four walls are gone, exposing me to the clouds as black as night. "So ends the human race," I hear. Pushing myself back onto my feet, I still can't see the source of the voice, but by it's voice alone it seems larger than life.

I see Marth hanging off the edge of what remained of the floor. Nimbly, she pulls herself up, she unsheathes her sword as soon as her feet hit solid ground. "The future is built upon the past," the voice taunts, "but your kind shall never see it."

Marth is twitchy, her head turns to find the source of the behemoth. Again, she sees something that's just invisible to me. But this woman who seemed so sure of herself has fear written in her eyes. "Your mother and father are dead, tiny one," the voice continues to taunt with a low chuckle. "You couldn't even keep the last of your family alive."

A strained sob escapes Marth's lips as she sucks in a breath. Her eyes glisten, she's struggling to keep her tears in. She did _not_ need to hear this, not now, not from this monster. What had Marth been through? Wait, I didn't hear that last line the last time I had this dream…

I see Marth tighten her grip on her sword, I also see her hands shaking. I feel like the invisible creature is circling around us like a vulture to it's prey. The monster roars, causing my ears to begin ringing, the building shakes; it will not last much longer. "And now it is your turn," the invisible voice says, euphoria in it's booming voice, "_to die_!"

The wind picks up in unison with the shrill shriek of the unseen monster. Marth stands her ground, her own screams mixed with the monsters. I can almost imagine the creature whizzing down to attack Marth, but in a flash… she's gone.

Stunned I turn my head to see a wyvern flying away from the scene as fast as the beast could go. I hear a couple of voices going back and forth with each other. I hope Marth's rescuer could get her to see reason.

I jump at the sound of another roar. I fall, the building could stand no more.

Anali woke up with a jump and her heart in her throat. A dream… just a dream. Her hand reached out to the side, wanting to feel Chrom's warmth against her icy hand, but all she felt was air. Her head turned to the side to find his spot on the bed empty. Lowering her hand onto the sheets she found them cold, he had left a while ago. How odd, Chrom usually waited until she woke up before getting out of bed.

There was a knock at the door before it opened to reveal Marlee. "Good morning!" she said as chipper as ever.

Tossing the blanket off, Anali climbed out of bed. "Morning," she said absently.

Her hands laid themselves flat on her belly. She was beginning to show just a little bit, not enough to immediately link her to pregnancy, but enough to look like she was putting on weight. The little bump made it all the more real, and all the more surreal. What would she think when she looked like she stuffed a melon under her dress?

Six more months. Anali had six more agonizing months to wait until she could hold her beautiful baby in her arms. Boy or girl Anali wanted to hold it, love it, raise it. She and Chrom had already discussed a number of names Jannali, Link, Morgan, Selene, Zelda, Marc, Gwyneth, Jacin, Carswell, Lucina, Channary, Marrok, Solstice, and more. They even discussed the idea of naming a girl after Emmeryn, while it seemed like a nice gesture neither one of them wanted to have their daughter feel like she had to live up to Emmeryn's legacy. This child would be the heir to the Ylissean throne, they had enough pressure on them with that alone. So the list of names had one crossed off.

Marlee laid out a tunic and a pair of slacks on the bed. It was only a matter of time before Anali would have to switch into her maternal wardrobe. "Marlee," Anali said as she began stripping herself of her sleeveless nightgown. "Can you fetch my lance for me? I want to run a couple of drills this morning."

Obediently Marlee strode over to the cupboard on Anali's side of the room. It was where she stored her effects, her sword, her lance, her tomes, and it was where she kept her ocarina. Opening the cupboard door Marlee stepped back and gripped her chin. "It's not here," Marlee said plainly. "Nor your sword or your tomes."

Anali, who was in the middle of putting on her trousers, quickly hurried to the cupboard. Aside from her ocarina, and a few loose pages from her tomes, it was empty. Her effects were gone. Her brow knit together, Anali was sure they were there last night. First Chrom, now her weapons.

"Uh… okay," Anali said with her hands up. "Have someone ready Amalthea, I'll go out for a ride after eating."

Marlee bobbed her head. "I'll have that taken care of."

Aside from the maid who brought Anali her breakfast, and the guards who stood close by, the dining room was practically empty. The maid presented Anali with small cream-filled pastries, and a saucer of raspberries and blackberries, along with a pot of her favorite cherry tea blend. "Excuse me," Anali said to the maid as she sat herself down. "Can I get more of the berries, please?"

The maid flashed her a smile. "Right away milady."

Almost as soon as the maid had left, Marlee hurried to her side. "I'm sorry, Anali," Marlee said, crouching down slightly to meet her eye, "but Amalthea seems to be… gone."

"Gone?" Anali said sawing one of the pastries in half. "What do you mean gone?"

"I mean she's not in her stable. Or any stable. One of the guards said that the Exalt had her moved early this morning."

Chrom moved her?

"Milady," a pink haired maid walked up to the two. Anali was sure her name was Effie. Or maybe it was Elphie. No, she was pretty sure it was Effie. Effie held an envelope in her hand, upon bowing slightly, she handed the envelope to Anali. "The Exalt asked me to deliver this when you woke up."

Curious, Anali took the letter. She used her knife to open the envelope, still holding onto the knife, she slid out the letter, and unfolded it.

_Anali,_

_I'm sure you've noticed some of your belongings missing from our room. I will inform you that Amalthea has been moved until further notice… until the baby is born. I think it's best for the both of you that you lay off the physical activities and riding until you have given birth. _

_With that in mind, by the time you get this letter the Shepherds and I have set out to march early this morning. The Griffin Riders had spotted a band of thieves headed for a border village, they're not Plegian, but rather Ylissean with a few Feroxi men thrown in. I have some of your strategies with me, we shouldn't be gone long. _

_I ask you take it easy, stay in side, try your hand at knitting, or just read a book. Relax a little._

_Love always,_

_Chrom_

Anali needed to reread the letter twice before it actually sunk in. The heat in her cheeks was almost hot enough to burn the letter. He was really doing this? He was really about to treat her like some delicate flower? He confiscated her effects and her Pegasus like she was some child?! "Son of a _bitch_!" Anali seethed, stabbing the knife right into the table.

"That's _mahogany_!" Effie gasped duly mortified.

* * *

Oddly enough, learning that the Exalt and his wife were expecting didn't feel like it did when she first found out about them. Probably because Cordelia kind of saw it coming when Anali threw up by the stable that day. When she held her hair back her first thought was something along the lines of, _'Good Gods, she's with child.' _And surprise, surprise Cordelia wasn't wrong.

After the Shepherds had successfully defended the border village - not far away from where her squad was once stationed - they were allowed to mingle with the grateful village. So, she decided to see what the shops had to offer with Sumia, who was currently side-tracked by baby garments.

She held up a tiny white thing that was probably a christening gown. Cordelia wasn't sure if Sumia was just excited for Anali and had babies on the brain, or if she was secretly expecting too. Surely if Sumia was with child Cordelia would have been among one of the first to know. Actually the more Cordelia thought about it, considering who Sumia ended up marrying she was pretty sure they _couldn't_ keep it a secret. Poor Frederick was bound to be so conflicted over his loyalties.

"Most of the girls seem to have caught the bug," a voice said from behind her. Cordelia jumped in surprise then spun around on her heel to find Stahl. The olive-haired man gripped his chin in mock-thought. "I'd say it's going to be a three-way race between Sumia, Lissa, and Nowi to feel the baby once it starts moving."

"Well, two out of three of them are in the position to have children," sighed Cordelia. Oh, wait, Lissa and Gaius weren't exactly married yet. "More or less."

"Alas, this bug's going to be sticking around for a while," Stahl sighed ruefully. "We'll think it's gone, but then they all relapse."

"I suppose it's a good thing the army has those like us, who seem to be immune," Cordelia said with a slight smile. This conversation was sort of stupid, but it was fun. Yes, sometimes Stahl found a way to push her buttons, but he was easy to talk to.

"What do you think of this?" Sumia asked the two, oblivious that Stahl had even joined in with them. She held a spring bonnet in her hands. "It'll be just in time for their child, don't you think?"

It was a nice bonnet, however the problem was it wasn't going to fit a newborn who was coming out in the spring. And by the time the next spring rolled around the bonnet would be too small. However, Sumia wasn't about to let Cordelia point this out to her as she went to the shop keeper to ask if there was anything to go with the bonnet. "I think she's going to be busy for a while," said Stahl.

"Looks like it," Cordelia replied flatly.

The scholarly air Stahl was trying to keep dissipated the instant he cleared his throat. He offered a hand out to her, his eyes rolled playfully to the side. "Might I treat my lady to dinner?" he asked. "I hear they have some Valmese cuisine here."

A small smile formed on Cordelia's lips. That sounded lovely, and the thought of spending the evening with Stahl tempting. But she couldn't just leave now, she was supposed to be spending time with Sumia. "I…" her voice trailed off for a moment, "I should really ask Sumia if it's okay."

"I don't think she'll notice," Stahl said with a half-hearted shrug. Before Cordelia could say anything else, Stahl poked his head into the shop. "Hey, Sumia! Alright if I steal Cordelia for a bit?"

Panicked, Cordelia held her hands up, whispering to him to keep his voice down. The man was beaming as he looked down at her. "She said it's okay," said Stahl.

"Did you have to yell?" Cordelia asked quietly.

"It was probably the only way to get her attention," he took her hand, "now c'mon! If we go now we should be able to get a good seat."

Cordelia smiled, tightening her grip on Stahl's hand as she allowed him to lead her through town. They ran past Gaius, who was conversing with a man in a pot helmet. The man was pinching the bridge of his nose. "I can't believe you brought me there…" Chrom hissed through his teeth.

When Gaius approached him for a night on the town, Chrom reluctantly agreed. When Gaius brought him some spare clothes to cover his Brand, Chrom put them on without complaint. He complained a little when Gaius shoved the pot helmet onto his head, but the ginger's argument about the coat Chrom wore being pointless the instant people recognizes his blue mop was convincing.

But Chrom could have counted on was Gaius taking him to a cabaret. At first it was innocent enough. And then the entertainers got… frisky. Gaius seemed at home flirting with the maidens, never mind that he was in a committed relationship. But the instant one of the maidens touched his chest, Chrom let out a number of dry sobs - he wasn't crying, he would insist - and started yelling for Anali.

That cause the entertainers, and their customers to fall silent and stare at him while Gaius pound a fist on the table laughing at him. "Don't be like that Blue," said Gaius. "We had a laugh."

"You did!" Chrom snapped, tossing the pot helmet into Gaius' chest. The force was enough to get a groan out of the thief. "Why, in the Gods name, did you bring us to a _brothel_?! _I'm_ happily married with a baby on the way, and _you're_ engaged to my sister! If Lissa ever finds out where we were-"

"I don't think she'll oppose to a little brotherly bonding," Gaius said in the most blasé tone possible as he popped a couple of hard candies into his mouth. "And trust me, a few years down the road you're going to be relaying this story to your kids while laughing your arse off."

"I highly doubt that," Chrom said entangling his fingers through his hair. He was still angry with Gaius, but that talk about 'brotherly bonding' made it slightly difficult for him to stay mad. Just _slightly_. "Let's try this again. But this time, I'm choosing our next stop."

"Whatever you say, Blue," Gaius said, handing the pot helmet back to him.

At the inn that housed the Shepherds for the night Anna happily stretched her arms above her head, humming a happy tune. "Someone's enjoying herself," she heard.

Whipping herself around, Anna came face to face with none other than the newcomer Priam. Priam, who had busied himself every day training. Priam, who seemed to have developed a little friendly competition with the likes of Lon'qu, Vaike, and even Chrom himself to see who could take out the most bandits during their scrimmage. Priam, who was pretty much glistening with sweat after he finished his evening training. Anna had to wonder if he ever trained with his shirt off. What a sight _that_ had to be.

"Hey there, handsome," Anna said sweetly, the same tone she used for male customers. "I am, in fact. I just sold a bit of inventory at three times the price I paid for!"

Priam didn't exactly see the honor in swindling hardworking men and women. And the Secret Sellers excelled at that. This army was filled with oddities. When Priam first saw that they had a Manakete and a Taguel - both of which he thought extinct - there was a part of him that _wanted_ to be defeated that day, that _wanted_ to join this army. They didn't have the numbers Priam previously had, but they did have the strength.

And then there were women like this Secret Seller. Priam had seen them enough to know the lengths they would go to for a quick and easy bag of suns. How this one ended up with Chrom's group was a puzzle to him. But the most Priam could think of was that she had an easy guard incase she angered a customer. "So long as you don't drag everyone down because you pissed off some sucker," said Priam.

Rolling her eyes, Anna shook it off. "Oh, don't worry," she said. "Even if I did anger someone they'd have to search very hard to find the right Anna."

"All the more reason to lay low," Priam mumbled to himself.

"Why are you worried?" asked Anna. She placed her hand on Priam's bicep, an action that caused the man to freeze up for a moment. What, a man like him never had a woman touch his muscles before? "One look at a big strong man like you is enough to send anyone running with their tails between their legs."

Priam pulled his arm out of the woman's grasp. "I shouldn't have to," he said firmly, "don't rely on _me_ to cover for _your_ actions or someone else's."

Without another word Priam walked off, into the inn, and probably straight to his room after he washed up. Something's would never change no matter where they were. Sighing slightly, Anna simply shrugged. Can't win them all.

Inside the mess hall Nowi had her elbows on the table, her eyes held upon Tharja, who was obscured from her view thanks to the spell book in front of her. Nowi could hear the Dark Mage scribble something down on the bit of parchment in front of her. Whether or not Tharja knew she was there or not was unknown to the Manakete. "Tharja," Nowi said, dragging the name out as long as she could. "What'cha doing?"

"Strange," mused Tharja. "I cannot read through the shell that cloaks your mind."

"But dragons don't have shells…"

Sighing, Tharja pinched the bridge of her nose. She would have thought a dragon would know a thing or two about magic. It either showed what Tharja knew about Manakete's, or just highlighted how scarce they were these days. "Since you're here," Tharja lowered her book, allowing Nowi to see her face. "I need some of your nail clippings. Just a sliver or two from the end will do perfectly."

Curious, Nowi list her head to the side. "What for?" she asked despite taking out her dragonstone.

"Manakete talons are used in Dark Mage divinations. I want to see what the future holds for me and Anali."

Technically Tharja was looking to see what the future held for Chrom and Anali. To see whether or not the Exalt would die, then Tharja could swoop in and comfort the mourning woman, making her finally returns Tharja's affection. She took the news of Anali's pregnancy on a chin. If a future for them involved that royal brat then Tharja would raise it with her. If Anali wanted more children then she would find away to make it so.

The resident Manakete slammed her hands on the table and leaned forward, right into Tharja's personal bubble. Her eyes could not have been any brighter. "You can tell fortunes?!" she exclaimed. "I'll give you every talon I have if I can have a fortune, okay?"

Sighing, Tharja placed her hand flat on Nowi's face and pushed her away. Maybe she should have had the farboy get them for her instead. "I suppose you want me to find your true love, right?" she asked through a yawn.

Nowi's hair almost stood up on it's own as soon as Tharja said that. Her face flushed, and she swallowed. "No!" Nowi shook her head, "I want to find out about my mom and dad. Where they are, if they're safe and all that jazz. Can you do that?"

The Dark Mage bit the inside of her cheek while she drummed her fingers against the table. "I may take me a little while, since I assume neither of us know anything about them," she said, "but it's doable, if you give me your talon clippings."

The Manakete nearly leapt off her seat exclaiming, "I'll get to it now!"

* * *

It seemed like the more Anali thought about Chrom and his letter the angrier she got, and the angrier she got the more she ate. At first it was just radishes, something she normally wasn't overly fond of a year ago. But as time went on Anali kept the palace cooks busy with her demands for popovers, and tomato or pumpkin soup with feta cheese.

Anali had gotten news of everyone's return a good hour before they actually arrived. Just enough time to get herself ready to face Chrom. Granted the fact that he asked Marlee and Ofelia to have a sort of sleepover with Anali while he was gone made her anger dissipate _slightly_. What Chrom had done was not acceptable, she was pregnant, she wasn't carrying some deadly virus, she wasn't suddenly made of glass. She was just pregnant, women became pregnant all the time.

So, Anali sat in the dining room with one leg crossed over the other. She wore the darkness dress she owned, a black and purple dress with a high collar and padded shoulders. It gave Anali just the effect she was going for. In front of her was a plate with three apple rose tarts, haloed a handful of radishes cut into roses. What Anali had wanted was some baked apples and a few radishes, but the cook took a few creative liberties. Not that Anali could complain, it looked too pretty to eat.

She nibbled on her radishes while she waited, with her goblet close by. The liquid was a dark red, almost purple. Nothing alcoholic, just a mix of blackberry and cherry juice. Anali was trying to invoke a placebo effect.

Anali took a brief sip as soon as soon as she heard Chrom enter the room. Anali locked her eyes on the empty chair across from her. Her face was as relaxed as ever, a skill she acquired over time playing the board game with Virion. "I missed you," she heard Chrom say as he leaned down to kiss her on the cheek.

And then Anali threw her drink in his face.

There was a snort from Lissa, who had seen everything from the doorway, while Chrom took a step back. His cape and overly complicated belts stained with a purplish-red color, while his bangs and sideburns clung to his face. "What was that for?!" he snapped, wiping his eyes and soiling his gloves.

Rising to her feet, Anali shot back, "You know very well what for! I don't know what's worse, the fact that you went behind my back and stole my effects and Pegasus, or the fact that you went out on a mission without me."

"You know very well why you had to stay behind," argued Chrom, "I explained it in my le-"

"That you couldn't tell me _to my face_! Gods damn it, Chrom! The midwife said it's perfectly safe to go riding, to march right now. Hell, she said that staying active will _help_ when I'm in labor!"

"The midwife isn't my wife and child," Chrom countered, his voice was low, almost like he was growling. "So she can shut up for all I care."

"So you want to make the delivery yourself, then?" Anali challenged, unaffected by Chrom's change in tone. "Fine. Do you know the best way to cut an umbilical cord? Best way to clean a newborn? What if the baby doesn't cry when it comes out? Or, gods forbid, what if there's complications during labor? I'm more inclined to listen to a woman who's had several children, and delivered more than listen to a man who will never do either."

"And if something goes wrong? If you end up injured while training? Fall of your Pegasus? What will happen if you lose the baby?"

Why did Anali get the feeling that Chrom wasn't telling her something? These concerns had to come from somewhere, he couldn't have just woken up and decided this. "Loosing the baby is always to be a concern not matter what," Anali said much more calmly as she hugged herself. "But I'm not going to be gripped with fear because of 'what ifs' that might not even happen."

Anali half-expected Chrom to argue with her. She expected him to snap at her. She expected something, she just wasn't expecting what actually happened. Chrom pulled her close, he kept one hand firmly pressed against the back of her head, forcing her face into his chest; his other arm was rapped around her shoulders. His breathing shook, and Anali could have sworn that his eyes were tearing up. Wasn't she supposed to be the emotional one? "Chrom, what is it?" Anali asked quietly.

"Mother…" Chrom's voice shook. "She never...

The word hung above Anali's head, but Chrom did not elaborate beyond that. But the implication behind that those few words were not lost on her.

* * *

Chrom returned Anali's effects, but was still pretty adamant on keeping her away from Amalthea and any other equine. But it couldn't be helped come harvest, this year, the royal family were invited spend the harvest festival at the Farfort. Donnel was livid at the prospect of seeing his mother for the first time in over a year. Anali, seasick prone Anali, couldn't wait to visit the Farfort again under better terms. "Anali, maybe you should stay here," Lissa suggested before they set off. "You don't exactly have sea legs."

"And miss a visit to the Farfort?" countered Anali. "My body's doing whole bunch of crazy stuff right now, maybe I can actually be comfortable on the sea this time."

Anali threw up three times on the way over.

Chrom brought half the Shepherds along with them, putting Tybalt in charge of the half staying in Ylisstol should something go wrong. But, given that Ylisstol had less and less it may not have been necessary.

Mayor Grey met them at the entrance of the forte, utterly exuberant to find the Exalt and his Shepherds. Donnel sprinted pass the Mayor and headed straight for his childhood home to see his Ma again. The village was alive, lit up by warm colors and the merrymaking of the villagers.

Gaius, who had never set foot in the Farfort before, was taking in everything the village had to offer in it's sweets department. This one vendor's candy apples look particularly delectable. After buying one he felt a pair of hands wrap around him from behind. He looked down, fully expecting to see familiar yellow sleeves, but was instead met with very like pink gloves. Gaius froze, she was about to kill him, wasn't she? She was going to shove her parasol down his throat and open it he just knew it!

"It would appear the Alder family is in your debt, Gaius," Maribelle said quietly.

"What?" the thief asked flatly.

Releasing him, Maribelle took Gaius by the hand and lead him somewhere more secluded. "I've been writing back and forth with my father," Maribelle explained. "And if you can tell me who plotted against him, we might finally be able to take him off the council."

"What?"

"Father and I both have a good idea who put you up to it," Maribelle turned her eyes to the ground, sneering, "Lord Duir is not above doing something that dastardly. How he could father a man as decent as Tybalt is beyond me."

"What?"

"Is that all you can say?" Maribelle snapped. "It's simple. If Escalus Duir really was the one who plotted against my father we can finally remove him from the council. I know it's asking for a lot for us-"

Gaius held his hands up, one of them still hanging onto his candy apple. "I haven't done anything Twinkles," he said. "Besides stir up a mess of trouble."

The blonde furrowed her brow and smacked Gaius on the shoulder with the back of her hand. "Nonsense. Look me in the eye and tell me you didn't write that letter saved my father. Tell me you didn't write it, confessing to you actions, knowing full well that you were putting yourself in danger."

The ginger avoided Maribelle's gaze. Almost as soon as Gaius put the blame on Shalom Alder he wrote to the magistrate explaining that it was him. He didn't say anything about a third party, not wanting to risk him owning up to his threats. "Escalus Duir," he muttered. "He was the one behind the whole thing."

Smiling, Maribelle embraced him again. "I take back everything Gaius," she said, "I can sleep easy knowing you're the one my treasure chose. And this information will help everyone on the council. Once Father springs this up at the next council meeting we can finally strip Escalus of his title and give it to Tybalt. It'll probably get a little complicated with him as Captain of the Griffon Riders, but I'm sure he can make it work."

The thief grinned weakly. "Glad I could help."

The house of Tinhead was relatively small, even when Donnel's Pa was still alive. But it was perfect for them. He was pleased to hear that Luce was getting along well in his absence. She had hired a little help to take over Donnel's chores for peanuts. And then Luce less than subtly dropped the fact that she was seeing someone. Romantically. "What?" Donnel asked, almost dropping his mug of cider. "Since when?"

"Few months after you left," said Luce. She looked down at her own cider, she cradled the mug in her hands and smiled warmly at it. "You remember Evert Hayle, don't you?"

"Miss. Rosaline's pa?" Donnel asked in wonder. Mr. Hayle kinda became a bit of recluse after Mrs. Hayle tragically passed away about three years ago. "Hadn't seen hide or tail of 'im in ages."

"Well, nearly losin' Rosaline to those… scoundrels last year put thing's into perspective for him."

"He make ya happy?"

"What would you say, Donny?" asked Luce.

The boy knit his brow together. His mother never quite seemed to lose that tender smile of hers this evening. A smile Donnel hadn't seen since his pa died. "I'd say yeah," Donnel took a sip from his mug.

"What 'bout you, Donny?" Luce asked. "Surrounded by strong, beautiful women, any o' them sendin' your heart a-flutter?"

The cider nearly went down the wrong tube. Clearing his throat Donnel pounded on his chest a couple of times. "Is that a yes?" Luce asked grinning like a Cheshire Cat. "Should I be expectin' grandkids soon?"

"I wouldn't go countin' chickens just yet. Ah mean… I like her," he began drawing circled with his finger on the table. "She's… a little hard to get a long with, but she's real nice when she wants to be…"

Luce's smile died slightly when she heard this. "I'm not gonna tell you who you can and can feel for," Luce reached out for her son's hand. "I just don't want you to project something that doesn't exist in this girl. I just want you to be careful."

"I will Ma," said Donnel.

Outside the light's steadily began to go out, and the townsfolk were headed into their homes. Luce clicked her tongue. "Over already? Sorry, Donny, I shouldn't have kept you-"

"Ma, no," Donnel shook his head. "Festivals come and go, I ain't seen you in ages."

Mrs. Tinhead smiled. What did she do to be blessed with such a good boy. Of course, she had his time in the Shepherds to thank for that, he did seem different from before. He was growing up while her back was turned. "In any case," Donnel said, draining the rest of his mug as he stood up. "I oughta get to the inn. I'll try to stop by before we leave tomorrow."

"But, in case you don't," Luce stood up with her arms open to him.

Without another word Donnel pulled his mother into the tightest hug he could muster.

The lights in the in were still on by the time Nowi walked into the inn. She spent the festival playing with a few local kids, then with a stray dog after the kids went home. She was finally feeling warn out from the long day and could probably sleep soundly that night. In the entrance the Manakete spotted the Dark Mage, it was almost a month since Nowi had given her a whole talon, but she still hadn't gotten back to her about her parents. "Hey, Tharja!" Nowi called.

"Hey… you…" Tharja forced out. Her face looked rather pained, like it was stuck in place for some reason.

"So did you do it? Did you find out about my mom and dad?"

"Yes…"

Nowi's purple eyes lit up. "So what's the story?" she asked, grabbing Tharja by the arm. "Don't hold out on me! Details! I need details!"

Gods damn it, how was Tharja supposed to do this? She was not good at this sort of thing. Quite the opposite really. "Your mother and father are… doing well," Tharja said through a grumble and a forced smile. "They worry about you a lot and can't wait to see you again."

"That's great," Nowi beamed, "So… where are they?"

Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. "They're uh…" Think of something, think of something. "Far, far away. Too far for you to ever reach."

"Pfft!" Nowi scoffed. "Don't forget I'm kinda immortal. I've got plenty of time."

"It won't be enough. Just be content with the knowledge that they're well."

The Manakete's brow knitted together and she pouted in thought. "What aren't you telling me?" she asked. Well damn. "C'mon, Tharja. I'm a grown woman, I can take it."

Tharja bit her lower lip, unsure of what to do. If Manaketes outlived human by several thousand years didn't that mean they carried burdens longer than humans did? But this was something Nowi asked for. Besides, it's better Tharja explain herself now while she was still alive than have Nowi be hunted by it a thousand years down the road. "I… couldn't locate your parents," Tharja said, avoiding Nowi's gaze. "Which means-"

"That they've just gone to a land so far away neither of us have ever heard of?" Nowi asked in awe. "Like Priam's ancestor?!"

She figured it out. She _had_ to. Nowi acted childish, but she far from stupid. This was just her keeping up the act. So Tharja just played alone. "I suppose it could mean that," she murmured.

"Aw, that stinks," Nowi pouted, "guess that mean's I won't be seeing them anytime soon. Thanks anyway, Tharja."

"Um… welcome…"

Nowi kept her smile for as long as possible while she was in Tharja's line of sight. As soon as the smile came down, so did her tears.

The Dark Mage waited a few minutes before she contemplated heading to bed herself. She figured it was probably for the best that she didn't run into Nowi again, it was probably best for the both of them to keep up the act and pretend the Manakete didn't receive bad news. "Heya," the voice almost made her jump. Almost.

Whipping around Tharja found her servant boy, tilting his helmet back with a large smile on his face. Gods, he didn't… Her face was warm. Why was her face warm?! "You didn't see that," Tharja said bluntly.

"Pretty sure I did," Donnel said with a cheeky grin. "I keep sayin' you're not as mean as ye want people to think."

Tharja's hands balled up into a couple of fists. She wanted to come back with something, to tell him that he was wrong. But she couldn't think of anything. "Night Miss. Tharja," Donnel said, flashing her another smile.

She glared at Donnel's retreating form. That stupid boy made her emotions go to war with her head, and Tharja couldn't tell which side was winning. "Stop it!" she hissed under her breath. "Stop trying to sway me from Anali! Stop trying to… sway…"

No. Donnel wasn't _trying_ anymore.

He already had.

Libra was one of the last to return to the in that night as he helped the locals clean up. Humble work was always the best way to unwind. The in was mostly deserted, quiet, but the silence never got to him. Until he heard someone sniffling.

On the second floor, at the very end of the hallway, Nowi was crouched down, her shoulders shaking as she hiccuped on a few quiet sobs. It was a sight Libra could barely stand to see. To see a lady as pure-hearted as Nowi, Nowi who spent the past year trying to help Libra find his own heart, who was always so careful with her human companions when she transformed, reduced to tears… The gods would strike him down before Libra turned a blind eye to this.

He met her at the end of the hall, and crouched down to meet her level. Libra placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, startling the Manakete slightly, just enough for her to look up at him. "I…" Nowi whimpered out, trying to dry her eyes. "I wasn't…"

"Don't keep it in, Nowi," Libra advised. "No one will think any less of you if you have tears to shed."

The Manakete's lower lip trembled. She always knew that wallowing around in her own self-pity over her longevity meant living an unfulfilled life. But Libra was right. Something just needed to be let out. So she buried her face into his chest, muffling her sobs. The War Monk was hesitant to hold her in his arms, a gesture he rarely gave or experienced, but everything was telling him to do it. That it was okay, that Nowi would appreciated it.

So he did.

* * *

Anali sat up, the room lit up by a few candles while she waited for Chrom. Her hands laid flat on her belly like she was trying to summon a sign of life. The midwife said that she should start feeling some form of movement from the baby anytime now. So far she hadn't had much luck. "Don't get discouraged if you don't feel anything for another few weeks," the midwife said. "This is your first child, but you will feel the little one in due time."

Her brow rose when she felt something, like… something just popped in the pit of her abdominal area. A few seconds passed before Anali felt the popping again. The door opened, and closed with a tired yawn from Chrom. "The villagers really know how to make a guy feel welcomed," Chrom said while he fiddled with his belts. "I guess they're still grateful for last year, but-"

"I think the baby just moved," Anali cut him off.

"What?"

"The baby… I think I just felt it move."

Chrom actually dropped Falchion onto the floor. He knelt down beside Anali and placed a hand on her stomach. "Can I feel it?" he asked her.

Anali shrugged. "I don't know. It didn't really feel like a kick, just…" she tried to fish for the right word, "poking?"

Getting back onto his feet Chrom continued to remove his garments. "Probably for the best," he said. "It shouldn't be up this late."

"Pretty sure it doesn't have any sense of time."

"I don't like calling the baby 'it.' Sounds derogatory."

"Well, we won't know the gender until its born."

Free of his clothes, and left with his smallclothes, Chrom climbed into bed beside Anali. "We still have to pick a name," he said. "Our list of possible is kind of long."

"I like Morgan as a boy's name," said Anali.

"Okay that one stays on the list of possible. I'm partial to Channary."

"Ew, Channary? Are you naming a baby or our pet bird? Maybe you should stay out of the naming process before you name our baby Renesmee or Morhc."

"Oh, really?"

Grabbing onto Anali's waist he pulled her close, then began to rake his fingers up and down her sides. "No!" she shouted before squealing in laughter.

She squirmed against Chrom's grip in a desperate attempt to free herself. As Chrom learned in the night's that followed their wedding night his wife could be a very ticklish person. And he quickly found that it was a fast way to win any of their nighttime disagreements. A strategy Anali could appreciate, surely. "Hehe stop, please!" Anali begged. "I can't - hehe - I can't breathe…"

With Chrom's arms wrapped around her chest, and his head on her shoulder, Anali caught her breath. "We still have time to think of names," he murmured.

"_You're_ the one that brought it up."

* * *

**Authors Note: **Still Chrobin shipping trash.

I actually like Channary as a name, but clearly Anali think's its something you name a bird.

Soooo, the 'Dire Future' dream, with clarity, was originally going to happen more towards the wedding. But like… at the last minute I realized it would've been better suited for the pregnancy. I always figured that either Cynthia or Gerome came to 'Marths' rescue because there was no way she was going to win. It could've been either or, but it definitely would've been Cynthia if she's her sister.

And this chapter is so filler I don't even…

Okay, I really did not go down rom-com clichés when it came to Anali's pregnancy. Like the weird food combo's that seem to coincide with cravings. Out of all the pregnant women I've known the combo's only happened _**once**_ but I've seen it so many times in fan fiction you'd think it happened all the time. Anali's mostly been craving radishs, and began to binge eat when her temper rose. And Chrom's actions aren't played for laughs, they piss off Anali. His reason's are hinted at but he shouldn't have treated her like a dainty flower, especially without talking to her first.

Fates is out in Japan, and I couldn't keep myself spoiler free. I already had to wait six months for one release, I can't wait another. I'm already jotting down idea's for an Embers-style fanfic, but it won't be coming until I've played it myself or I finish Embers. Whichever comes first.


	26. Chapter Twenty-Six

**Chapter Twenty-Six  
The Best is Yet to Come**

"Alright! Here it comes, push!" the midwife shouted.

Anali bit back a sob, she tightened her hands into a couple of fists, and pushed. Breathless, Anali laid back against the pillows. She was panting, she was exhausted, the contractions started in the middle of the night, hours ago. The midwife yelled at her to keep pushing, while the nursemaid encouraged Anali to breathe.

A shot of pain tore through Anali's abdomen. Breathe… breathe… breathe… Sobbing, Anali laid back against her pillows while the midwife passed the baby to one of the nursemaids to be cleaned. "You can relax now," said the nursemaid, "they're out, they seem healthy."

"They?" Anali echoed.

The nursemaid was suddenly at Anali's side with bundle in her arms. "See for yourself," said the maid.

Anali took the bundle into her arms; her face paled in utter confusion. In her arms were a number of tiny, furry creatures with pointed ears and long, thin tails.

"Mew."

* * *

Anali's eyes snapped open, she stared at the ceiling, her lips pressed into a hard line. Without thinking, her hand laid flat on her belly, now larger and rounder. She had another nine or ten weeks before the baby came.

A _human_ baby, not a litter of kittens.

Chrom was still sound asleep at her side, the one of them who got a full night sleep these days. The baby was going to be a fighter with how often it kicked, and Anali could no longer get comfortable. Inhaling, Anali held her breath for a moment, then released it through her nose.

The nursery was right across the hall from their room, a basinet would be placed close to Anali after the baby was born. The royal family had a tradition of wet nursing, and they did have one on standby should something come up, but Anali wanted to at least _try_. If the baby wouldn't latch on, or if Anali couldn't produce enough then they would be wet nursed.

Her midwife assured her that there was nothing wrong if Anali couldn't breastfeed. There were plenty of children who wouldn't take their mother's milk. But the thought terrified Anali, the thought that she could be rejected by her baby shook her to the core. Why should this child love her? Anali had no past, and she had reason to fear she was going a little mad. That was the only explanation for her dreams. Not the kitten dream she just had, but seeing Marth fight something Anali couldn't see, and… and…

Biting back a sob, Anali clung onto Chrom. She had that nightmare several times within the last few months, even on their wedding anniversary. Anali had much the same reaction as that one time in the inn. She still wouldn't tell Chrom what happened, she wouldn't talk about it, she just wanted to put the memory as far away as possible. Reoccurring dreams where she murdered her husband, what kind of person did that make her? One that didn't deserve the love of this child, that's who.

It wasn't even the thought of Chrom dying that scared her, it was the fact that _Anali_ was responsible for it. That _she_ killed the man she loved, the man who loved her regardless of her lack of a past, the father of their child. That was what Anali couldn't bare.

Anali shouldn't have been allowed to hold the baby. She shouldn't be this close to the person most precious to her. But at the same time, she couldn't stand the thought denied these actions.

She started to hiccup on small sobs, just all around scared. Scared that the baby would reject her, scared that her nightmare could be more than just a night terror.

* * *

Nowi kept her ear close to Anali's belly while the woman's fingers worked around the needles and yarn. The Manakete's tongue stuck out slightly, impatiently waiting to feel a kick from the baby. She was the only one in the room who was not knitting, there was Libra and Elaine, who were knitting blankets for the visitors at the food house. Anali, on the other hand, was trying to knit a blanket for the baby.

Within the last several months Vaike and Miriel had married; they made it particularly obvious whenever they did the deed as Vaike was always particularly exhausted the mornings after. The rumors said Miriel was surprisingly pretty adamant about having a child herself. Though people were split on whether or not she legitimately wanted a child, or if it was part of her research. Anali was in the latter category given how Miriel seemed to genuinely smile whenever she saw the couple in the mess hall.

And then there was poor Tybalt, caught between his duties as Griffin Rider captain, and the new Duke Duir. Anali still laughed when she recalled Escalus' face when Shalom swooped in during their post-harvest council meeting and reviled his plot against the Alder family. Apparently Escalus never bothered to learn Gaius' name, therefore was unable to recognize that Princess Lissa's intended was the very same man he more or less forced into framing Shalom.

The act was enough to strip the Duir's of their titles, but Chrom was merciful. Escalus would pass the title to his first born - his _only_ born - and would pretty much just disappear. He was not to come to any more council meetings, to any royal events - such as the baby's christening. Chrom had all but said that he never wanted to see Escalus' face again.

Tybalt took the title of Duke, but would not step down from the Griffon Riders. So he spent the months to follow flying from Ylisstol to his duchy and back. Both man and griffon were exhausted these days.

Anali eyed Nowi when she slowly slid her hands across her belly. Silently, Anali told the little one inside to keep kicking so the Manakete could feel it. "Say, Nowi," Anali said a few minutes after, "how are baby Manakete's born?"

Shrugging, Nowi made an _'I-don't-know' _sound. She couldn't tell a person if a Manakete baby came out as a dragon, or looking like a human. Or if they laid eggs. If Nowi had met other Manakete's she had no memory of it anymore. There was one way to answer Anali's question, but Nowi wasn't even sure if Manakete's _could_ reproduce with humans. She could sort of see female Manakete's able to have a hybrid child, but she couldn't tell you if a human female could even survive it.

Anali looked down at her work, somewhere along the way the knitting became very uneven. If she chose to continue Anali would only succeed in making the worlds most awkwardly shaped blanket. "I have no talent for this," sighed Anali.

"Practice makes perfect," Elaine said with a cheeky smile. The smile died moments later. "Okay, I can't lie, I have no idea how you did that."

"Guess I'm just not crafty."

"Ooh! Ooh! I felt it!" Nowi exclaimed happily.

Instantly, Elaine stood up and hurried to Anali's side, Nowi lifted her head from Anali's stomach allowing Elaine to feel. A surprised little gasp escaped Elaine's lips when she felt the little kick. Being an only child with relatives too far away this was probably the first time Elaine actually knew the expectant mother, thus actually got to see this sort of thing for herself. "Libra! Libra! Libra!" Nowi chanted. "Your turn! Your turn! Your turn!"

"I heard you the first time," the priest said with a slight smile. "But, I'm afraid I'll have to pass. I couldn't-"

"Pish posh," Anali waved it off, "might as well get in on the fun now while it's kicking."

Libra had a few argument's in mind, but Nowi had grabbed him by the hand, and pulled him across the room. His fight against her was pitiful, in the year they spent trying to locate his heart, Libra learned pretty quickly that if he fought against her, then Nowi would lose that brilliant smile of hers. Between the Manakete and Princess Lissa they could light up a room with their smiles alone. What Libra would do if he killed those smiles.

Nowi just about forced him onto his knees and placed his hand flat on Anali's round belly. The War Monk was beginning to feel rather awkward, as he wanted to argue, he was neither Anali's husband, nor a relative, this seemed improper. Anali placed her hand over his own and guided it to the side. And then he felt it, a tiny bit of pressure against his hand. A tiny little life making itself known.

Libra tried to push out the thoughts of his mother doing such a thing when she was pregnant with him. He couldn't think of his mother knitting blankets for him, or of his father preparing a nursery for him. Those thoughts would only bring about darker thoughts. Dark thoughts would put a damper on Libra's mood and cause his friends, and especially Nowi to worry.

Instead, he forced himself to think happier thoughts; how Nowi would be somewhere between exuberant and terrified when meeting the child, for it was obvious she wanted to. Something so tiny and delicate in her arms. Lissa would have her eyes full of tears, but an ever-present smile on her face while she held her niece or nephew. Frederick might have gotten in on the emotion too, given how dedicated he was to the royals. The people of Ylisse would celebrate the birth of the new prince or princess. He thought of the happy couple to receive this blessing, the Exalt who had suffered a great lost last year, and his wife with no memory, no family.

Libra didn't realize he was smiling until Sumia walked in with a tray of small meat pies. "I didn't have much to do," Sumia said, passing everyone a plate, "so I thought I'd make lunch."

Anali eyed the meat pies greedily. She could almost hear Chrom telling her that she shouldn't eat the pie crust because it's connected to fruit pies, which had sugar, and blah, blah, blah, mental back flips. He still wasn't fully willing to listen to the midwife. The way Anali saw it, trying to distance their children from sweets was a futile effort if they were going to be born into a world where Gaius was their uncle.

She noticed two ways the pregnancy messed with her appetite; she had a particular fondness for radishes, and some Feroxi potato dishes (much to Lon'qu's pleasure), and meat seemed particularly delectable these days. Of course Anali was always a carnivore, but it seemed like this baby would be following in her footsteps.

One bite of the meat pie was almost enough to send Anali into tears. The mouth-watering ground beef, the savory gravy, the fresh peas, the hint of potatoes, and the crisp crust. "I take it you like it," Sumia said, holding the empty tray to her abdomen.

"Of course!" Anali said. Rising to her feet she took Sumia's hands into her own, and stared at her friend like she was a heaven-sent goddess. "Let's annul both our marriages and run away together!"

Sumia simply stared at Anali, her cheeks slightly flushed and a smile forced onto her face. "That's little… rash for you, don't you think?" asked Sumia. "Besides I think we'll come across trouble the instant you go into labor."

Anali pouted as she sat back down.

Libra had offered to wash everything after lunch, it was the kind of work he did find some genuine enjoyment in, even if the pans Sumia cooked it all in were a little difficult to clean. Nowi was helping by drying everything and putting them away. "That was fun," Nowi said, climbing onto one of the counters to put the plates away.

"Yes," Libra had to agree, "it was nice. I do admit, feeling that little one kick filled me with a warmth I've not felt in a long time."

Eyes lit up again, Nowi practically leapt off the counter. "Do you think you've found your heart then?" she asked.

Libra blinked twice. That was a legitimate question. As Libra had told Nowi over a year ago he spent most of his life trying to avoid what lied in his own heart, it was silently agreed between the two that their search would take time. He imagined it would have taken longer if they were looking for Nowi's heart, it would have taken them much, _much_ longer than a year.

"I honestly don't know," Libra said thoughtfully. After he dried his hands he shifted his hair over one shoulder, then seated himself on his knees. "Would you… care to try?"

Nowi nodded silently. Carefully she rubbed the scar on the back of Libra's neck. The touch littered Libra's neck and arms with goosebumps. He wasn't exactly used to being touched period, but this didn't have the same pain as it did once. Actually, it didn't hurt at all. "Well?" Nowi asked after a long period of silence.

"It's… slightly ticklish."

"But it doesn't hurt anywhere?"

"Quite the opposite," Libra said, standing up. "It felt warm… tender even."

"But where are you feeling it?"

"Right here," Libra placed a hand right on the left half of his chest.

Nowi's brow rose curiously. "The same place where it used to hurt?" she inquired.

"Yes, exactly."

Clapping her hands, Nowi bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. "I think we've finally found your heart!" she cheered. Her brow rose again when she realized Libra was just staring out into space with his hand still over his chest. "What's wrong? Aren't you glad?"

Blinking, he looked down at her, a smile finally played upon his lips. "Of course," he said gently. "I'm… overjoyed."

"Hehe. That's good!" Nowi said with the biggest smile she could muster. "'Cause when you're happy, I'm happy, too."

"Nowi," Libra cleared his throat, "what would you say to us spending even more time together?"

She tossed her arms into the air. "I'd say that would be amazingly awesome, that's what! Actually, I was going to ask you the same thing. Spending time with you has been my highlight of the week and I wanted to keep hanging out after we found your heart."

Libra felt like a weight had been lifted from his chest, and like a completely different, heavier weight had put itself back on it. His hand went into his slacks pocket and wrapped itself around the cool stone he had been carrying. What he was about to ask was probably going to hurt Nowi more than it would help her. Because she was going to outlive him by several dozen centuries, but wouldn't the few decades they would have together be better than being alone? "In that case," Libra said, taking the stone out of his pocket, "perhaps you would do me an even greater honor? I'd like to have this made into a ring as proof of my love and affection for you."

Wide-eyed, Nowi stared at the stone, it looked kind of like a dragonstone with its ripples of greens. But it lacked the ethereal glow to it, it lacked the magical properties that allowed her to transform. The scenario brought up a scene Nowi had heard of plenty of times, granted it usually involved a ring, but Libra just said he'll have it made into one. "Libra…" she utter softly, "you mean, like… as your wife?"

"Yes," replied Libra. "That is exactly what I mean."

He froze slightly, surprised when Nowi wrapped her arms around him. "Of course I will!" Nowi said, squeezing him tighter. "I'm so happy!"

Libra chuckled slightly, returning the gesture. "If this fluttering in my chest is any indication," he said, "I am, too, Nowi."

Outside by the stable, Cordelia fiddled with the small pendant around her neck. It was about half the size of her pinky, and looked like it had caught many different colors within it. It was a gift from Sumia for her most recent birthday last July. On it's own the stone wasn't all that impressive, but with the clay beads it was perfect for casual wear.

Unfortunately, fiddling with whatever necklace she wore was something of a habit of hers whenever she got a little frustrated. In this case, it was her ability to run. It was never her strongest suit, and it still looked like she would always stay mounded. Not that she didn't love flying, but still, she wanted to be useful if she was ever needed on foot.

Her eyes widened when she spotted the Exalt sparring with Priam, something the two of them had been doing a lot as of late. Cordelia had a feeling it was to help with the Exalt's anxieties over Anali's pregnancy. They stayed close to the garrison's heavily damaged wall, and Cordelia was reminded of Panne's words a year ago, how the Exalt wasn't as graceful as Cordelia had said he was. But Panne was just _wrong_, watching the Exalt battle like this, even if it was just sparring, proved that.

The Exalt took a step back, blocking Priam's oncoming attack, and then he fell over. The Exalt tripped over _his own cape_. Priam was bent over double, chuckling at the sight before him, even the Exalt was laughing at his own slip-up. It was just one slip-up. Just _one_. This didn't mean anything. The Exalt… the Exalt…

The Exalt lost his footing often when Cordelia thought about it. He had a tendency to sway after a long battle, and he often lost his composure when someone he loved was in danger. That Plegian general after Exalt Emmeryn died… when Anali was injured in Elrond… the grace and charisma was gone. And the cross-country tour when they spoke, the Exalt was at just as much of a loss for words as she was (granted she didn't make it easy for him). All that grace and charisma…

"_Here's what I think," _she could almost hear Liam tell her so long ago, _"I think you fell in love with some fabrication that just happened to have Chrom's face."_

Gods damn it! She hated that Liam was right!

He was right. Panne was right. Anali was right.

That man Cordelia claimed to be so in love with never existed.

* * *

Anali's belly grew rounder and rounder in the next couple of weeks, and at long last, April came. The baby was due any day now. On one hand, Anali was just drained, the baby kept kicking and moving, it kept her up at night, her back was killing her, and walking was a hassle now. She did not envy Liam and Lazuli, who had announced to the Shepherds that night in the garrison that they were now expecting. That their own child would be born in November.

"Personally, I didn't think Liam had it in him," Chrom said, his hair still wet from his bath.

"Yes, but I'm sure people thought the same with you," Anali snakred with a raised eyebrow. "Now, is it just me, or does it seem like everyone in the Shepherds are getting hitched? I mean, there's Olivia and Lon'qu, Lissa and Gaius, Libra and Nowi, Sully and… who's she marrying, again?"

"I don't think it's anyone in the Shepherds," Chrom climbed into bed with Anali, "honestly, I'm still trying to figure out where Lon'qu and Olivia came from."

"I can kind of see it," said Anali. "They're both socially awkward."

Chrom pulled Anali close to him so that she was almost seated in his lap and laid his hand flat on her belly. Now, that they were finally in April and expecting the baby any day, waiting was unbearable. They had widdled their list of possible names down to four, two for each gender. The nursery had been set up, and the midwife was prepared for the delivery anytime.

"Nine months of waiting," Chrom murmured, "not sure I can wait another few days."

"Imagine how I feel," Anali replied. "This kid's been messing up my bladder."

He laughed, and Anali playfully smacked him with the back of her hand. Anali slid herself off his lap, and laid back, trying to make herself comfortable. Chrom laid down beside her, with one arm wrapped around his wife as though that alone could keep her and their child safe from everything. Content in that moment, it didn't take Anali long to doze off.

_I watch as the tall, sickly man drops to his knees; a dark haze dances around his body. Chrom turns to face me, smiling, and with it I feel lighter than I have in ages. I just want him to hold me and never let go. To go home to Ylisstol and live out our days with them. I reach out for Chrom, intending on taking hand, and maybe scold him for overexerting himself, but we both hear the tall man choke out, "This isn't over…"_

_From beyond Chrom I see the tall man prompt himself up on one arm. In his extended hand, I see the spell he's gearing up. "Damn you both!"_

_I shove Chrom out of the spell's path, taking the full force of it myself. My vision goes white, and I feel like I've just swallowed an entire campfire. I can't breathe…Why won't my lungs work?_

_As soon as my back slams against the floor I'm finally able to get precious air. My vision clears, and I see Chrom springing up to my side. He drops down onto one knee, then wraps an arm around my shoulders to help me sit up. "You all right?" he asks urgently._

_Unable to find my voice, I nod. Relieved, Chrom looks back at the man in the dark robes, his body has disintegrated into a dark haze that left nothing in its wake. "That's the end of him," Chrom says as he helps me onto my feet. "Thanks to you, we carry the day."_

_Back onto my feet, I feel Chrom's hands on my shoulders. I wince, a sharp, agonizing pain pulses through the very center of my head. I don't think I could find it in me to yell out in pain. "We can rest easy now," says Chrom. His voice sounds so distant from me. It is like I'm miles underwater. I feel myself sway on my feet as another shot of pain tears through my me head. "At long last."_

_Another shot rips through me, one after another. I am vaguely aware that I'm squeezing Chrom's arm. The action is enough to get Chrom to look me in the face. "What's wrong?" he asks me._

_I can't bring myself to answer. My head hurts so much I'm afraid the slightest movement will make it worse. Thought all the pain, I'm somewhat aware of the panic swelling in the pit of my stomach. My vision is bathed in red. "Hang on!" Chrom encourages me, I feel one of his hands on the back of my neck. "Hang on-!"_

_Pain erupts from my abdomen. _

Anali's eyes fluttered open to meet a discomfort in her lower belly. It didn't _hurt,_ hurt, just… discomfort, like a menstrual cramp. She laid awake, staring at the ceiling, when the discomfort happened again she tried to steady her breathing. Grunting, Anali sat herself up and climbed out of bed. She hobbled to the door; upon opening it, she poked her head out to find the dimly lit hallway. She didn't have to wait long before one of the guards came by, making his nightly rounds. "Excuse me," she called, hailing him down.

"Milady," the man said with a brief nod of the head.

"Can you or someone fetch my nursemaid? Tell her that I think I'm starting to feel contractions. And can someone inform Lissa?"

The guards eyes lit up for a moment. "Right away, Milady," he said before he rushed down the hall.

Anali could already feel the ache in her back from standing for just a few minutes. She limped back to her bed and sat down beside Chrom. He looked so boyish and peaceful when he slept, it seemed like such a shame to wake him right now. But when she felt another contraction Anali was reminded that this was finally happening. "Chrom," she said gently shaking him. "Chrom…"

He woke with a start and prompted himself up on one elbow. "Wha?" he asked a little disorientated.

"Sorry," Anali said with a slight wince. "I just sent one of the guards to get the midwife. I've been feeling a couple of contractions."

"Huh?"

"The baby's coming."

That woke him up.

A few minutes later Anali sat back against the pillows, watching Chrom dress himself despite the fact that it was still early in the morning. The midwife and a nursemaid arrived moments later with the ever vigilant Frederick. The midwife clapped her hands twice, pointed at Chrom, then pointed at the door. "Out." she ordered.

"But-"

"Out."

"Chrom just listen to her," said Anali, "I asked Lissa to be here a long time ago. She should be on her way."

Anali wasn't dumb, she knew it would have been improper to have Chrom there with her. But the thought of being alone with a couple of people she hardly knew while she was giving birth terrified her. She just needed someone to hold her hand. So, weeks ago Anali asked Lissa if she could do that. "Okay," Lissa said beaming. "But only if _you_ do the same thing for me for my first born!"

"Okay," Anali said with a giggle.

"Best get him a pot of tea ready," the midwife told Frederick, "this is going to take awhile. And have someone send us up a pot, too."

Lissa arrived minutes later, just in time for Anali to have another, this time painful, contraction.

* * *

By midmorning everyone in the palace, and everyone in the garrison heard that Anali had gone into labor. Officials were sent out to Ylisstol to inform the people, and it seemed like everyone had dropped everything and gathered together should anxiously waiting for anymore news. The Shepherds gathered in the mess hall, some of them playing card, Cordelia played a few numbers on the harp, and Olivia danced. However the dancer seemed a little distracted that day, and Cordelia's songs weren't exactly joyous.

Chrom was in the sitting room with Gaius and Frederick, the two of them caught up in a game of chess. Chrom couldn't sit still, his hands had to do something, and he had gotten up to pace around the room more than once. He had watched the sun rise, and still no news. "What's taking so long?" he asked at length.

"Child birth is a lengthy process, milord," Frederick said, moving a black piece across the board.

"'Lengthy' is a nice way of putting it," said Gaius. "Imagine trying to push an eight-pound alien right out of your-"

"_Thank you_," Chrom cut him off.

When the door opened behind him, Chrom whipped around. His shoulder's fell, it was just Sumia with another pot of tea. She poured Chrom a fresh pot, then eyed him. "Sit down," she ordered, "relax."

Having been on the receiving end of Sumia's 'slap' twice, Chrom obliged. He picked up the cup by the rim, having broken two cups already, and put it to his lips. He kept one eye on Sumia and only put the cup down when she nodded in approval. "Try to relax captain," Sumia said sweetly as she took a seat beside Frederick, "I'm sure Anali's doing fine."

Squeezing Lissa's hand, Anali sobbed. The midwife shouted for her assistant to get water, or maybe it was to get a blanket, Anali wasn't sure, she couldn't hear over her own heartbeat. The contractions had gotten worse, had gotten painful, and now she was being ordered to push. "I want Chrom," she blubbered.

"I know, I know," Lissa said, trying to soothe her. With her free hand, she wiped Anali's sweaty brow with a cool, damp cloth. "But when you see him again you'll have a beautiful baby to show him."

"Alright, Anali," the midwife said, working between her legs, "I'm going to need you to push for me, and if it's a good one, it's out."

"Keep breathing," Lissa encouraged.

Anali leaned forward and pushed. Her thought's were screaming, her heartbeat was in her ears. Almost there… almost there… almost there…

A sound cut through everything she heard in her head.

Her eyes snapped open.

"Okay, that's it, I don't like playing with Stumbles," Gaius groaned, leaning himself back on the couch.

Sumia slid her winnings across the table. "I guess I had some good teachers," she said innocently. "Or it's just beginner's luck."

The chess set had long been put away in exchange for playing cards. Sumia claimed that she didn't know how to play poker, and unknown to the guys she played them all for fools. Chrom wasn't sure if Frederick had just fallen for Sumia all over again, or if he was jealous of her poker face. "Who's up for another game?" asked Sumia.

Before any of them could answer, the door flew open. Lissa hurried in, rounded the corner and threw herself over Chrom. A moment later Lissa whispered something to him, instantly Chrom was on his feet. He hurried out the door, then down the hall. "So Anali had the baby?" Frederick asked.

"Yup," Lissa sat back with a sigh. "Sound's like they're both okay."

"That's good," Gaius said while he massaged Lissa's very red hand.

"So…" Sumia said leaning foreword. "Boy or girl?"

* * *

There had never been anything more beautiful than the little girl laying right beside her. Her little daughter. A healthy, beautiful baby girl, a princess. Her tiny hands close were to her face, while her eyes were closed, content after being cleaned and fed. She came out with a full head of hair, a full head of _blue_ hair. She was probably going to end up looking like her father.

Anali laid on her side, exhausted, sore, still covered in sweat, and filled with so much love for this child. This little life that was proof that Anali had a future in spite of her big blank of a past. That future, her own life, belonged to this precious, beautiful baby.

She choked on a sob, one hand wrapped around her little daughter while she held her as close to her body as she could. What had Anali done to be given something so precious? The tears spilled out of her as the child squirmed slightly. She needed a name now, and Anali had that name on the tip of her tongue, for it was one of the names she and Chrom had decided on. "Lucina," Anali's voice cracked, "my little Lucina."

She looked over her shoulder when she heard the door creak open; Chrom had taken a cautious step inside. A small, tired smile formed on Anali's lips. "I think Lucina wants to meet her father," she said, her own voice sounded strange to her ears.

Chrom looked like a wide-eyed child as he rounded the bed. He took a careful seat at the edge of the bed, as far away from Lucina as possible. "Don't be nervous," Anali said, her head still rested on the pillow, "she's your daughter, too."

As tired as she was, Anali forced herself to sit up. She collected Lucina into her arms, the baby stirred with just a slight turn of the head, her small eyes fluttered open to reveal a couple of pale irises. Making sure her blanket was around her Anali held her out to Chrom. "Keep her head up," Anali instructed while the baby was passed between the two.

She had to smile at the slight tremble in Chrom's arm muscles. He couldn't have been anymore frightened of her than if she was literally made of porcelain. He kept his watering eyes on Lucina. "She's beautiful," he whispered.

"She's perfect," Anali said, lying back down as she spoke.

"You called her Lucina, already?" Chrom asked looking down at his wife.

"She looks like a Lucina."

Chrom smiled, she did, she really did. A few minutes later he placed Lucina back down between the two, and laid down on his side, prompting his head up with one arm. He just stared in silence, imprinting the image of his wife and daughter drifting off into sleep. He wasn't ever going to let go.

* * *

**Authors Note:** Short chapter is short, but who cares? The baby's here!

Again, I'm trying to avoid rom-com cliché's, hence why everyone so calm. I knew for a long time that Lissa wasn't going to help with the delivery itself. She's a _**princess**_, why would she help with a delivery, cleric or not? You wouldn't have Emmeryn do it. But she is there to be than hand to hold for her sis-in-law.

I utterly adore Libra/Nowi. They're like amongst my top five favorite parings in this game (along with Chrom/Avatar, Frederick/Sumia, and Lon'qu/Olivia). And I started shipping them by complete accident. When I first played _Awakening_ I was trying to marry Nowi to Gregor, but I kinda messed up in the pair-up during Chapter Nine, and she ended up C-Supporting with Libra first. I was curious to see where they were going and I fell in love with their supports. And then I went through Morgan/Nah and learned that Nah actively prays and the rest was destiny.

And what do you know, the second year in the timeskip went by faster… because reading about a pregnancy is boring. Very few can make nine months of domestic life interesting.

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	27. Chapter Twenty-Seven

**Chapter Twenty-Seven  
Lavender's Blue**

_I overlook what seems to be a sanctuary. A pitiful, crumbling sanctuary. I see Marth, her hair pined back into a boyish style, walking beside a girl with long pigtails. They walk up to a group of fourteen people with a Pegasus, a horse, and a wyvern close by. "Oh!" one of the boys breathe out with an obviously flirtatious tone. "I'm liking the new look."_

"_I'm not keeping it," Marth says crossing her arms over her chest. "One hairpin taken out and it comes undone."_

"_But wouldn't it be easier to just cut it?" another girl with shorter pigtails asks with her head listed to the side. _

_Immediately Marth's face begins to flush while her eyes travel to the left. One hand reaches up towards her head as though to move a lock behind her ear. But the instant she realizes it would cause her friend's work to unravel she lowers her hand back down. Marth clearly knew that it would have been easier to just chop it off, but still chose not to. "Invoking such noble image," a boy, half a head taller than Marth, says, draping one arm over her shoulder. "I can see it now, sword drawn, dripping with blood with all the fury of Valhalla-"_

_A purple tome suddenly slammed into the boy's face. "In case you forgot," says a boy in a long robe. I think I see a braid hanging at the side of his face. "We don't have time for theatrics."_

_The boy beside Marth crosses his arms, I can practically feel the pout on his face. "I just want to have a chance to meet my parents," says the shortest of the group._

_I hear another boy let out a 'humph.' "You do realize the people we may or maynot, won't be the same people as the one's we knew?" he asks. "It's not an era we belong in."_

"_Why'd you have to be a Debbie downer?" asks another girl. "I'd rather take that than nothing at all."_

"_Yeah, I'd like to actually get to know my mother," a girl says crossing her arms over her chest. "Yeah, I've seen her face so many times, but I don't actually know _her_."_

"_My father…" says a mousy girl. "I wouldn't mind seeing him again…"_

"_Meeting them isn't a necessity," Marth says as she approaches the downer boy, "not for all of us. You can lay low if you want."_

"_Yes," a tall boy in a wide-rimmed hat says while he adjusts his glasses. "But the same can't be said for you. You plan on getting yourself more involved than any of us, however you're presence will raise a few questions for… obvious reasons."_

"_I already realized that," Marth says, taking a blue and gold rimmed butterfly mask from the downer. "This should be able to keep it hidden… at least until the time is right."_

_There is clearly more on Marth's mind as she puts the mask on. _

_Well, I think they've gone far enough._

_The ground begins to rumble, what's left of the sanctuary starts to crumble away. "Eee! They've found us!" shouts a tall boy._

_Inside the sanctuary, right on the decaying alter, a white-blue light appears. From the light sprouts an ethereal portal. The Breath of Ruin blasts into the ground by the group, sending the tall boy and the ground-based horse into a frenzy. Immediately, one of the girls run up to the beast to try and calm them down. "Go! Go!" shouts Marth._

_The girl mounds her horse while the downer boy pulls himself onto the wyvern and the girl with short pigtails climbs aboard the Pegasus. A light fills the area as three large creatures replace three members of the group. Marth stays behind as the group runs further into the sanctuary, each of them disappears into the portal. Marth looks up at me with a smile on her face, the message is obvious. "We win."_

_Or so she thinks._

_My person changes into it's flimsy bipedal form the instant I hit the ground, Marth has already sprinted into the empty sanctuary. I'm at her heels as Marth runs through the portal. She thinks she's one-upped me. That she can change what's long been written. But she has know idea what I know, who I was._

_She doesn't know that she's just dammed the past to a darker future._

_My battalion of Risen follows me into the portal, my destination is firmly at the front of my mind. Just before it all began. At the end of the vortex I see the night sky, and the fires of a ravaged caravan. Below me I see someone running blindly through the field. _

_Odd… that never happened. _

_Damn it! One of those brats must have arrived a little sooner than expected._

_It doesn't matter._

_I land nimbly on my feet, my battalion is not as graceful, well, aside from my personal favorite. The person has frozen in place, trembling with fear, their eyes wide in terror and grief. "This is going to be easy," I say._

It was the tiny moaning that woke her from her dream. Anali sat up to find Lucina flailing her arms, Anali was on her feet before the flailing could turn into wailing. She took Lucina into her arms and started to rock her as she inspected her daughter's person. She tried feeding her but Lucina didn't want to latch on. "I think someone just wants attention," Anali said sitting back down on the bed. "Or was someone just lonely?"

A little smile formed on Lucina's lips. The midwife insisted that it was just gas, but Lucina would have that reaction when Anali or Chrom talked to her for the past week. As far as Anali was concerned, she was smiling. "Mommy wanted to get up early anyway," Anali sighed as she leaned back against the pillow. It was pretty close to sunrise, still a bit of time before the day started.

Anali placed Lucina on her chest so that the little one's head was on Anali's shoulder. It was a month after Lucina's was born, and her christening was within two days, the official debut of Princess Lucina Anali Emmeryn Ylisse. The Khan's were supposed to be arriving that day for the christening, and for personal reasons; so Flavia could meet her niece, and so Basilio could celebrate Lon'qu and Olivia's engagement with the couple. It made Anali wonder if he was secretly pulling for them to get together.

After Lucina's birth Anali found Amalthea back in her stable, as Chrom promised. "I'm not going to ask what happened with Silvia," she said at the time. "I have a pretty good idea. But I am _not_ going to put up with it again for our next child. What will be, will be."

Much like their first conversation on what Anali could do while pregnant, it just sort of ended.

Lucina started to squirm in Anali's hands, her head turned from left to right. "Trying to fight it?" asked Anali. She lowered her head slightly and started to sing under her breath;

"_Lavender's blue, dilly, dilly, lavender's green  
When I am king, dilly, dilly, you shall be queen  
Who told you so, dilly, dilly, who told you so?  
_'_Twas my own heart, dilly, dilly, that told me so…"_

Anali hardly considered herself much of a singer - she would leave that to Olivia - but Lucina was probably a little too young to appreciate the ocarina, well that and Lucina clearly wanted to be held. Much like the song Olivia taught her Anali couldn't remember how she knew this song, it just came to her while playing the ocarina a while ago. Strangely, she actually knew the words to this one. Anali liked to think both songs were something her own mother would sing to her.

But it was probably just wishful thinking.

"_Call up your men, dilly, dilly, sent them to work  
Some to the plough, dilly, dilly, some to the fork  
Some to make hay, dilly, dilly, some to cut corn  
While you and I, dilly, dilly-"_

"Keep ourselves warm…"

Anali jumped in place. She carefully turned her head to the side to find Chrom prompting his head up on one arm. Anali's face flushed. This was hardly the first time Chrom caught Anali singing to Lucina like this, but that did not make it any less embarrassing. Silently, Anali carefully stood up and placed Lucina back in her bassinet. As soon as Lucina's back hit the bedding she heard a chuckle from Chrom. Anali looked over her shoulder at her husband. "What?"

"Nothing." He shook his head slightly. "I just… don't think even my own mother was this hands-on with parenting."

Sitting back down on the bed Anali just shrugged in response with her mouth twitched to the right. "She was Queen Consort too, right? I always thought Consorts didn't have much power."

"They don't. But Mother didn't start out as a military tactician."

"That's not what I meant."

She could hear Chrom heave a sigh as he fell onto his back. "I don't know if she was like you are for Lucina when Mother had Emmeryn, but for Lissa and me we were mostly cared for by a nurse."

That didn't necessarily answer Anali's question. She didn't really get why Silvia herself couldn't care for her children if she didn't have any power compared to Calhoun. Perhaps it was her vague humble beginnings, but for Anali not taking care of Lucina, or any other children they would have, herself was unfathomable. How could she _not_ raise them herself?

But Anali's thought's were a bit muddled with the need to get a little more sleep. She had another game with Virion that day, and the Khan's were supposed to be arriving. She just needed another hour or two of sleep…

* * *

"And it looks like I win again." Virion leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Blast it all…" Anali said in a hushed tone. She had a sling over her chest where Lucina was nestled inside. The infant had dozed off after feeding and remained undisturbed since. "I was so sure… Well, next time-"

Leaning forward again, Virion sighed ruefully. "I'm afraid 'next time' may not come for a while," he said. "I regret to say that I shall be missing the princess' christening. I'm needed back home."

Anali's brow knitted together out of concern. "Did something happen?" she asked.

"Not in the way you think. But my presence is required, so I fear I will not be present for the christening as I am leaving within the hour."

"So soon? I would have thought you'd wait until morning…"

It occurred to Anali that Virion was only leaving now so they could have one last game before he left. From the way Virion spoke it sounded like he wasn't sure when he would be back. She was about to apologize when Ofelia walked up to Anali's side. "I-I'm sorry," she said quietly, "b-b-but I've come to i-i-in form you that the K-K-Khan's have arrived."

"And I believe that would be our cue to depart." Virion rounded the table to meet with Anali. He took her free hand into his own and brought her knuckle to her lips. "I hope that was not too bold."

"Not at all," Anali said as she stood up.

Chrom had to pinch the bridge of his nose as Flavia's men brought in the wagon-full of gifts for Lucina. Which included at least two stuffed bears that were about Chrom's height, and a blanket that would have surely suffocated her with all the fur. "If you think that's bad," Basilio whispered to him, "you should've seen what we _didn't_ bring."

"Did you two just come for a visit or are you moving in?" Anali asked when she walked into the room.

Instantly, Flavia's face lit up and she clapped her hands together. "Alright, let's see her!" The Khan held her hands out.

Smiling slightly Anali carefully took Lucina out of the sling. She was still sound asleep as she was passed over to Flavia. The Khan swayed in place while she studied Lucina's face. "Well, on the bright side," she said, "looks like she'll have Anali's looks."

"Hardly," Anali said with her fingers intertwined with her bangs. She placed her wrist beside Lucina's face to help get her point across. Lucina was pale as a ghost next to her brown-skinned mother. "And she clearly has Chrom's hair and eyes."

"_Color_ yes, but she's going to have your sharp, analytical eyes."

Anali crossed her arms and looked to the side. She wasn't exactly seeing it, with her hair, eyes, and with how often she kicked while still in the womb, Lucina was going to take after Chrom. The only thing missing was the Brand of the Exalt, but that usually appeared a few months to a year after birth. Well, okay, Lissa's Brand never surfaced and it was a _very_ sensitive topic. But that case was rare.

"It's too early to tell," Chrom said through a sigh. "She's only been alive for four weeks."

"Maybe, but Aunt Flavia has a way of reading children." Basilio guffawed the instant he heard this, which earned him a glare from Flavia. "Care to share that, oaf?"

Cordelia stretched her fingers when they finished the piece. For the past week she had been practicing with Stahl for their performance during Lucina's christening. It wasn't necessarily much to gawk at but more akin to background music before the ceremony started. There may have been a bit of room for them to perform during the reception, however it was the ceremony they were more concerned with. Liam was given the option of joining them, but he politely declined. Cordelia wasn't exactly complaining, even if Liam was right about her she wanted to stay mad at him. "I liked the sound of that." Stahl cracked his knuckles, which made Cordelia want to cringe.

"It was lovely, wasn't it?" asked Cordelia. "We played in exquisite harmony and every note was perfect. At this rate we should be ready for the Princess' christening."

"Yeah…" Stahl tilted his head back. He was having ideas at the moment, which wasn't always a good thing. "Say, Cordelia, practicing like this has made me realize something…" His mind kept telling him to abort _now_. This was going to end badly if he didn't stop before he said too much. Words could not be taken back once they were spoken. "I think you and I should spend more time together."

Damn it…

Cordelia's brow knitted together in confusion. To her, Stahl made it sound like they wouldn't be playing again after the christening, which was far from Cordelia's intention. She figured it would have been like the way it was before the Princess was born, they would practice together and talk for a bit afterwards. "I'm not sure I follow…"

"What if I had a ring with me?" asked Stahl. He was trying, _trying_ to avoid eye contact with her while his fingers became entangled with his hair. "Would that make my meaning clear?"

She gasped, "Stahl!"

Her face was almost as red as her hair. A proposal? Where was this coming from? "Look," Stahl said through a rueful sigh, "I understand if your heart belongs to another man. I've known…" He sighed again. "I've known for a long time now that you've had eyes for Chrom. But, for better or worse, I can't keep my love a secret any longer."

Cordelia's voice rose a couple of octaves. "Wait, you know about Chrom?"

First Liam, now Stahl…. Gods on high, was she _that_ transparent?

Stahl rubbed the back of his neck. "Sure. Ever since the birthday bash… what, two years ago? Before everything with Plegia went to hell. The song you played for Chrom was so full of love, it was like declaring it to the world."

Chrom's twentieth birthday ball… Yes, Cordelia did play for him, hoping her feelings could reach him through music… but he was dancing with Anali while she played. His eyes was on Anali, _only_ Anali. In hindsight it should have been obvious to her that there was a spark between them when she saw them dancing that night. It was obvious that Chrom had fallen for her when Anali lifted his spirits after the death of Lady Emmeryn. And it was painfully obvious that he was fully and completely in love with her when Chrom wanted the Shepherds to make a three-day journey in half the time when Anali was at risk of dying. And here they were; happily married with a beautiful baby.

Cordelia's chances were nonexistent by the time she entered the army.

But as she was beginning to realize in recent days, Cordelia never loved _Chrom_. She loved the daydream. She loved the Prince Charming she _imagined_ him to be. As someone had once put it, her 'love' for Chrom was a sham. A fabrication. She never loved _him_, just a fantasy that happened to have his face.

She never even tried because she didn't want the disappointment when she realized Chrom wasn't who she thought he was. Cordelia just said that it would have never worked out because of their classes… which was such a stupid excuse. None of the royals were that uppity, even the infamous Exalt Calhoun married below him. There was no excuse for Cordelia to never try outside of preserving her own image of a Prince Charming.

"I thought that if I tried hard enough," Stahl continued, "I might be able to win your heart one day, so I started taking lessons from Liam-"

"_Liam_?!" Cordelia echoed.

"Yeah. He's the only other person I know he could play the harp."

"_I'm looking for the woman _he's_ head over heels for," _Liam had once told her.

_Gods_. How big a fool could she be? There couldn't have been a bigger idiot than her.

"I guess I'll just hold off on that," said Stahl.

In a flash, Cordelia was on her feet with her face in front of Stahl's before he could say anything else. Her hands gripped the sides of his face as she pressed her lips firmly against his. Stahl's eyes were wide and unblinking, frozen in shock. This was not quite what he imagined for a first kiss with Cordelia, but it would have been better if he could just get out of his stupor and _enjoy_ it. And for Cordelia… it was better than any daydream she ever had.

The kiss broke, Stahl was panting and his face was scarlet. "_Or_," Cordelia still held his face in her hands, "you can ask when you find a ring. And I can say 'yes.'"

Stahl looked like someone had just thrown a brick at his head. "Kay…" he said weakly.

* * *

The day of her daughter's christening was probably the first time Anali actually wore her tiara. Technically she should have for the wedding, but there was a tradition of being presented with her first tiara by the groom's mother, or the matriarch. Since neither Silvia or Emmeryn were able to do so Anali decided she would just go without.

The tiara wasn't anything fancy, in fact it could have easily been mistaken for a really fancy and expensive headband. Just gold with a few intricate designs etched onto the surface. Once again it was made by Anali's go-to blacksmith, Benny.

Her dress was white and blue, it was sleeveless and she wore a couple of white bands that served to hide her mark. The skirt was long enough that Anali was contemplating attending the event without wearing shoes. If there was something out of place in her outfit, it was the hummingbird pendant Gaius had given her. Anali made an effort to wear it often after he and Lissa became engaged, just a little sign that she approved, that she accepted Gaius as her brother-in-law.

A whimper came from Lucina's bassinet, and Anali was at her side before it could turn into full-out whaling. The gown she wore was as pure as snow. There were short lacy sleeves with little white bows, and an outer layer sheer skirt with white flowers stitched in. The skirt was very long on her, long enough that it was a blessing that she couldn't walk yet.

Taking Lucina out of the bassinet Anali started to blow raspberries, which sent the infant into a fit of giggles. Anali repeated this a couple more times before she abruptly stop. She had just noticed something in Lucina's left eye and Anali feared the worst. Was Lucina blind in that eye? Was it infected? What would it do to Lucina's health if it was infected? "Okay," Chrom said fiddling with his belts the instant he entered the room.

The seamstress insisted that the Exalt and his wife wore something coordinated for this day. So Chrom also wore white and blue, though the blue in his suit was more of a royal blue while Anali's was a cornflower blue. His suit bore some resemblance to Chrom's usual attire, one piece, and one sleeved with the Falchion right at his side. He wore the haloed diadem he was presented with for his coronation over a year ago. Anali still imagined Chrom tipping backwards because of the awkward weight of the thing. "I think I'm ready. The ceremony should be starting soon, so-"

"Chrom!" Anali immediately turned to her husband. "I think there's something wrong with Lucina's eye."

"What?"

"Look." Anali passed the baby to him. "Left eye."

With Lucina securely balanced in one hand and supported with the other, Chrom brought her up to eyelevel. Anali wrung the skirt of her dress between her hands. If it was an infection, surely it could be cared for without killing her. If it was blindness then Anali could read up on blindness then find a way to help Lucina's depth perception. But the seconds ticked by and Chrom hadn't said anything. She knew what she saw, there was something in her baby's eye.

Lowering Lucina into one arm, Chrom just chuckled and pulled his wife close to him. "She's fine," he said. "It's just proof that we were right to choose today for her christening."

"Huh?"

"Look."

Still confused, Anali stared into her daughter's face. She needed just a few seconds for her to realize what Chrom had meant. The pattern in Lucina's iris was very, very familiar to Anali at this point, as she had spent many nights tracing it on Chrom's shoulder. Lucina was of Exalted blood, so it was only natural for her own Mark to appear in time. "But…" Anali looked up at Chrom, "in her _eye_? It won't compromise her vision, will it?"

"I don't see why," Chrom said giving Anali's shoulder a slight squeeze. "And there's been worst places for the Brand to surface."

"I guess…" murmured Anali.

Pulling Anali closer to him Chrom placed a kiss on the crown of her head. "We should be going," he said into her ear. "They can't start without us."

The christening was filled with various nobles and personal guest, all bearing witness to Ylisse's new princess and heir. The ceremony was pretty straight forward, the Archbishop anointed Lucina, while he murmured a prayer for the child. Lucina didn't exactly appreciate a stranger touching her, even if it was on the forehead, with some strange substance. She squirmed in Chrom's arms, whining her disapproval. When the Archbishop finished with the anointing, Anali took Lucina to try to get her to calm down.

The Archbishop continued with the prayers for the Princess' good health, the health of her parents, and for a gracious reign when she took the throne, with the added hope that it would not come with the untimely deaths of the Exalt and the Queen. The ceremony was finished with the parents vows to raise Lucina maintain the will of Naga, to teach her to preserve the doctrine, worship, discipline, and to one day govern the laws of Ylisse. The words were not unlike the vows spoken at Chrom's coronation. The vows Lucina would have to make one day.

Frederick was as vigilant as ever during the reception, perhaps a bit more so as he needed to keep his lord, his lords wife, and his lords child safe should the unthinkable happen on this perfect opportunity. The wicked did not rest, and nor shall he. "Better take it down a notch before Chrom order's you to relax," Sumia said handing Frederick a drink, and he was reminded of two years ago when she had done the same thing for him.

He remembered thinking about how he envied the man who married her, of course, as fate would have it, that lucky man turned out to be him. This summer would mark there second year anniversary, and, aside from his mother-in-law, Frederick couldn't have been happier. However, he did fear that his beloved wife wasn't happy at the moment. The way Sumia always visited little Lucina, all the browsing for baby clothes, it seemed obvious to him that Sumia would be wanting a child soon enough.

"What's with the sour face?" Sumia asked grasping his hand. "I would have thought you'd smile a bit more after Lucina was born."

At that a small smile tugged at Frederick's lips. Of course he did. When he met the new Princess ,Frederick was turned into a sobbing mess of a man. The thought alone of his liege having a child was enough to send him to tears, and seeing that Princess Lucina was so perfect just about sent him over the edge. "Yes, Frederick," Chrom had said in an attempt to calm him down. "I know, she's beautiful but she's also asleep, so if you could _try_ to tone it down a bit."

Chrom silently pleaded to Sumia to help him calm Frederick down. But instead she just rested her head against her husbands shoulder, rubbed his back with one hand, and stroked Lucina's cheek with her finger.

"Do you… want one?" Frederick asked his wife.

"Oh, no I already had one."

"What?!"

"What?"

"What are you talking about?"

"What are _you_ talking about? I already had something to drink."

"I was talking about _children_. Do you want to start having children?"

Sumia's mouth formed a perfect 'o.' Her expression died as she twisted a strand of hair around her fingers. "Of course I want to have children. But are we going to raise them in the palace, or do we want our own place? And what about when I inherit mother's title. Poor Tybalt's running himself ragged trying to keep up with two duties."

Frederick blinked twice "You've thought about this for a while," was all he could say. "I just couldn't help but notice the way you look at the Princess, and-"

Sumia threw her arms around her husband, knocking him back two paces. She knew Frederick's face was beat red, it usually was whenever they showed this kind of affection in front of everyone. Gods did this man make her feel like the most important woman in the world. "I'm in no rush, Frederick," she told him. "As soon as we have our living arrangements sorted out we can really start talking about it."

Chrom would have loved to be in Lucina's position as the reception went on. Completely oblivious while the nobles and guest fawned over her, and when she got too fussy the nurse came along to take her away. That was the part Chrom was especially envious about. Events like this did get immensely tedious, by the time the reception finally ended it was well into the night.

Lucina was sound asleep in her bassinet with the nurse close by. She took her leave when the couple returned to their room. The instant the door closed behind the nurse Anali started to pull at the strings that held her dress together. "Gods," she sighed, "I just want to relax in a warm bath."

She felt a couple of strong hands rub her shoulders, a gesture that made Anali list her head to the side out of utter content. "Perhaps I'll join you," Chrom murmured into her neck.

A chill ran through Anali's spine, and her breathing hitched. She was tempted to take him up on his offer. But if she did, one thing was going to lead to another and Anali was tired as it was. "I'm pretty sure the last time we shared a bath together, it resulted in Lucina," said Anali. "And I'm not in that much of a hurry to give her a brother or sister."

"Fine, point taken," Chrom said through a sigh. He kissed her on the temple. His lips left a trail of kisses down her jaw line until their lips met. Chrom's hand fluffed her hair as Anali's tongue entered his mouth. The spell was broken at the sound Lucina whimpering in her bassinet. Sighing, Chrom's eyes turned towards their daughter. "I don't think she approves."

"She's either hungry or she needs to be changed," said Anali. "Or she just wants to be held."

"Anali, I've got it."

She flashed Chrom a bashful smile before she went to have a quick bath. She was tired, her sleep schedule had become a little messed up since Lucina was born. It always seemed like Lucina couldn't twitch her fingers at night without Anali waking up to see if she wanted anything. But Lucina was good at sleeping through the night, so Anali was probably worrying over nothing. But she needed a full night of sleep, so Anali had hoped that a relaxing bath would help.

Anali returned to the room a half hour later, her dress replaced with an ankle-length nightgown. As soon as she closed the door, Anali was met with the sight of Chrom in the rocking chair beside Lucina's bassinet with the baby held in one arm. He was dead asleep with his head tilted back and his mouth slightly opened. He was asleep, but he still held Lucina in his arm with no sign of dropping her.

She couldn't help but smile at the sight. Not wanting to disturb either of them, Anali tiptoed around them and slowly climbed into bed. If only she could fall asleep to this sight _every_ night.

* * *

"_The day he understands peace is the day death gives it to him… So perhaps I must be deaths agent." _

"We'll_ be deaths agent," I correct._

_Chrom smiles slightly at this. With my own grievances with Plegia, how could I not offer to play some roll in bringing about Gangrel's end? I'm anxious to get Khan Basilio's help for the upcoming war, I'm itching to start mowing them all down. That's probably why I can't sleep, but finding Chrom outside like this made me a little more comfortable._

_Blood splatters onto my face as the blade is pierced through Chrom's right shoulder. He yells out in pain, his free hand tries to grasp at the injury, but he ends up hitting the blade and making it worse. I see Chrom's face pale as he collapses to the ground. Behind him stands a man dressed in Plegian colors, his cowl obscures his face. His sheath is empty, and I see a quiver and bow strapped to his back. It dose not take a genius to tell what this man is here to do._

_I feel my face heat up as the man made a reach for his bow. Stupid me, I didn't think to at least bring my sword with me. I don't want to cause Chrom any more pain, and I can't use Falchion. So I do something completely stupid._

_I jump on him._

_The sudden action is enough to send the man backwards onto the ground. I straddle his chest, I plant my feet firmly on his wrists, keeping his arms pinned to the ground. My hands find his neck and I squeeze. I'm bordering on hyperventilating as the man begins to flail about, or at least tries to, while he gasps for air. A smile tugs at my mouth until it turns into a full out tooth-bearing grin. _

_Yes… Die, asshole. Die. Die. __**DIE**__._

_The man stops breathing, he doesn't struggle against me. But I don't let go until I'm _sure_ he's dead. My fingers feel a little stiff when I remove my hands from his neck, euphoria bubbles up in me. He's dead… Chrom's attacker is dead…_

_Chrom… _

_My head turns to look a Chrom who was bleeding out on the ground. Fuck, I need to get him to a healer! _

_I hear something swish through the air, and pain sprints through my back, from the left shoulder to my right underarm. My vision turns red, my head is fuzzy. I fall to the ground, full out hyperventilating. The ground rumbles and I'm vaguely aware of the explosion. Whoever just attacked me sprints into the palace… _

…_everything… _

_ …goes…_

_ …black…_

_I wake up to a face-full of white. It's not cold so I'm thankfully not outside in the snow. It's most likely a pillow. So I can deduce that I am in bed, laying on my belly. I turn my head to the side and see that I'm in some sort of infirmary. I hear someone gasp, "Oh! You're awake! Thank goodness!"_

_My arms feel heavy as I try to push myself up. Sumia is at my bedside, the poor girl looks like she's ready to cry. "How long have I been out?" I ask. "Where are we?"_

"_Regna Ferox," Sumia says sitting down. "You've been asleep for four days. Gods, by the time Ricken found you and the captain… No one could find either of you during the attack… Poor Lissa has been a wreck."_

"_The attack?" I echo._

_The man who attackd me… the explosion… Chrom's attacker was clearly wearing a Plegian uniform so… Oh, gods no! "What happened?!" I ask, once again struggling to get up. "Where's Chrom?! The blade went right through his-"_

"_I know," says Sumia. She gingerly places a hand on my shoulder to push me back down. "The healer's say that the injury he sustained is never going to heal."_

"_No…"_

_I see Sumia's brow knit together, her eyes avoid contact with mine. Something else happened. Licking her lips Sumia continues with, "Lady Emmeryn is dead."_

_My heart drops in my chest. "What…?"_

"_C-captain Phila was able to get the Exalt to the saferoom, but one of Plegia's assassin's stabbed her… three times. Th-then he plunged the blade into the Exalt's head." Sumia pauses for a moment to burry her face in her hands. Her breathing shutters. "H-he stabbed her so many times in the head you couldn't recognize who she was… Phila's going to be okay b-but… they took the Fire Emblem."_

_It was Gangrel. Had to be. Who else wanted the Fire Emblem and to see the end of House Ylisse so bad? Damn it! Damn it! Fucking damn it! Why can't I save a life when it fucking matters?!_

"_Anali…" Sumia says quietly. It's only now that I realize that I've started to pound my fists against the pillow. It's steady at first, but only builds up into harsher movements as my rage builds inside me. "Anali, stop!" Sumia rises from her chair. "You're injured too! You're going to rupture your-"_

_I'm ignorant to the blood that runs down my back as I take out my feelings on the pillow. _

_I'll kill them all!_

_I'll kill them all!_

_ … kill them all…_

_Kill. Them. All._

Anali jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She was prompt up on her elbows trying to strangle her pillow and bed sheet. "What'd the sheets ever to do you?" Chrom asked with a bemused smile.

"Nothing," Anali groaned as she rolled onto her back. She started to rub her eyes with one hand. "Just a dream… the night when Marth warned us of the attack on the palace, only things ended up happening so much differently than how it actually happened."

Chrom wrapped an arm around his wife and brought her close to him. "It was just a dream," he said into her hair.

"I know, but…"

A tiny whine came from the bassinet in front by Anali's side. Lucina was starting to cry out for a changing, and once that was done, she surly would want to eat. Anali turned her head around and kissed Chrom on the cheek. "I'll take care of this, then you two can have your daddy-daughter time," she said.

A good three weeks had passed since Lucina's christening, and Anali had hardly set foot outside of the palace grounds since April, _before_ Lucina was born. There was Chrom's birthday ball, and Sully and Kellam's wedding. But for the ball Anali had resigned herself to just smiling and nodding as the people told her how precious Lucina was, how much they were looking forward to watching her grow, and how they were sure she would have her parents best qualities. For Sully and Kellam's wedding… it was still technically on garrison grounds. Anali's feet had been itching for days. A couple of hours in the market was just what she needed.

However, Anali's day on the town consisted of Anali spending a good hour or two in the bookshop looking for the next three volumes of _'Mad Tales of a Bloodthirsty Falcon Knight,'_ a near forty-volume series Sumia had gotten her into. With her books in her arms Anali debated on whether or not she should invest in lunch. She could go for a bit of veal… or hazelnut soup. Or both.

"Hey, Anali!"

Anali leapt back at the sight of Kellam, right there in front of her. For one reason or another Anali was under the impression that he had left the Shepherds after the war. So needless to say she was pretty surprised when she learned that _he_ was the one Sully was marrying. It made things a little awkward come their wedding day. "Oh, hi… Kellam." Anali tried to save face, true Kellam's lack of presence was hardly a secret but it was impolite to say as such. She noticed the shopping in his arms. "Out getting anything specific?"

"Actually, I was about to ask you the same thing. Nah, I was just working on my culinary skills."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, the morning after the wedding Sully tried surprising me with breakfast and… well…" he turned his head to the side, "I just want to live…"

Anali bit back a laugh. That was something she could understand given that neither Anali herself, nor Chrom had any talent for cooking. Had Chrom been anyone else, odds were they would both be dead long before Lucina was born. "What about you?" Kellam asked.

"I just needed to get out of the palace for a bit," said Anali. "Been in there since April and I was two seconds away from…"

Her voice trailed off as the people started to crowd the road that lead straight to the palace. Kellam and Anali shared looks before they pushed themselves through the crowd. A small battalion of Feroxi soldiers were marching through the town. Leading them was a blond woman with her hair cut short. "Raimi?" Anali gasped, recognizing the woman.

"The Feroxi border guard?" ask Kellam.

"I need to get back to the palace."

Without another word Anali bolted down the road, mapping out the quickest route to the palace to get there before Raimi's men could get there. Obviously, something had happened, otherwise Flavia wouldn't have sent Raimi.

When she made it back to the palace Anali nearly shoved her books into a maid's arms, quickly asking her to take them to her room. She gave the maid a hasty 'thank you' then hurried to find Chrom or Frederick. She found Chrom in the throne room, holding Lucina in one arm, he was surprised to find his wife home from her shopping trip, out of breath. "Anali," he said dumbly, "wha-"

"Milord," Frederick said entering the room with Raimi at his heels. "We have a messenger from Regna Ferox."

Chrom's brow rose. Immediately Anali took Lucina into her arms so Chrom could approach Raimi. As soon as she had come to a stop, Raimi genuflected in front of him. "Exalt Chrom, I come on behalf of Khan Regnant Flavia."

Anali's heart nearly fell into her stomach. What could have happened in a measly three weeks? "Is there something amiss?" Chrom asked without missing a beat.

"I fear so, Milord. The Khan requests your presence at a summit as soon as you're able."

"What's happened?"

"Our western neighbors of Valm are no longer acting so neighborly," Raimi said curtly. "Their emperor, one whom they aptly name the Conqueror, has launched warships against us."

"An invasion?" Chrom summed up. "Are you certain of this?"

"Yes, milord. The Khan hopes to meet with you in Ferox."

Frederick leaned in towards Chorm. "What do you make of his, sire?"

"Ill business to be sure," Chrom replied in a hushed tone. He said, louder this time, "Raimi, we shall accompany you back to Ferox."

A small smile played upon Raimi's lips. "Very well, milord. We shall march back as soon as you are ready."

Raimi took her leave, leaving the three - four, if one was to count the baby - alone. All three of them had the same though, even though none of them wanted to say it out loud. War was once again on the horizon no doubt. "Chrom…"

Instantly, the Exalt turned to look at his wife. His eyes already looked tired even though they hadn't entered one battle or even met this 'Conqueror.' "I know what you're thinking, Anali," he said while he walked up to her, "but we owe Regna Ferox a great debt. I must apprise myself of the facts there before deciding on a course of action."

Pursing her lips, Anali's eyes turned skyward while she pretended to think. "Nope," she shook her head, "not what I was thinking. I was going to suggest we discuss strategy on our way over."

Chrom's brow rose once more, and he no longer looked so tired. "Wait, you're…" his voice trailed off for a moment. His eyes darted from his wife, to their little daughter in her arms. "You're coming?"

"Naturally."

"B-but Lucina is hardly eight weeks old! She needs her mother now."

"We have a wet-nurse ready just for this occasion," Anali reminded him. "And you told me House Ylisse traditionally wet-nurses their children." She looked down at Lucina, who was halfway between interested in what all the adults were saying, and wanting to sleep. Within the weeks that followed her christening her Brand became more noticeable. Anali gently stroked the child's soft, plumb cheek with her knuckle. "Lucina's a strong child; she takes after her father as her Brand proves."

Chrom grasped the hand that affectionately touched their daughter and gave it a squeeze. "I'm not just worried about her," he confessed, squeezing her hand a little tighter. "I'd worry about you as well."

"All the more reason for me to go. Didn't we always say that we can be more together than we are apart?"

Chrom bit his lower lip. Why did she always have to be right? They were more together, two halves of something greater. And… Gods damn it, he was going to need her strategic thinking. As much as Chrom would love to avoid another conflict it sounded like they were headed right down that road. Sighing in defeat, Chrom released Anali's hand and cupped the side of her face. "All right," he sighed again. "Just promise me you'll stay safe. Lissa and I had Emm, but we lost our parents when we were young. I want Lucina to grow up with her whole family around her."

"And I don't?" Anali asked, placing her free hand over his. "I'll stay safe if you promise to do the same. I want us to grow old together."

* * *

And so the Shepherds were informed that they were to march to Regna Ferox come morning. Everyone was encouraged to gather their effects and any belongings of theirs and be ready on the morrow. Chrom laid on his side, watching while Anali rocked Lucina to sleep and singing softly to her;

"_Lavender's green, dilly, dilly, lavender's blue  
If you love me, dilly, dilly, I will love you  
Let the birds sing, dilly, dilly, and the lambs play  
We shall be safe, dilly, dilly, out of harm's way"_

It was an old Ylissean nursery rhyme, but listening to it like this, from Anali's own mouth, made Chrom think of his childhood for one reason or another. He felt like he heard it from someone somewhere along time ago.

As Anali came to the last verse, she rose to her feet as carefully as possible,

"_I love to dance, dilly, dilly, I love to sing  
When I am queen, dilly, dilly, you'll be my king"_

She tread carefully as she always did when Lucina was asleep. Carefully, Anali placed Lucina into her bassinet and gently placed her lips on the side of the infants head. Chrom was tempted to ask Anali if she was sure about going to Ferox with them. Not for her safety, but if she could actually be separated from their baby for who knew how long.

"_Who told me so, dilly, dilly, who told me so?  
I told myself, dilly, dilly, I told me so"_

Anali kept her eyes on the baby as she climbed into bed at his side. She only tore her eyes from Lucina when she snuggled into his chest. Chrom wrapped an arm around her shoulders, her head on his shoulder. "No one can tell when we'll be back," he said, his hand played with a few strands of her hair.

"I know…" said Anali. "I'll just… some up with some super strategy that will take care of everything and we'll be back before we know it."

She could almost hear his smile that formed after she said this. Anali wasn't that foolish, they could be gone for days on end. "If this turns into a war, in the end… we're doing it for her."

Chrom's eyes glanced to the side at his wife, though all he could see was the top of her head. He felt her hand lie flat on his chest, a few inches away from her face. "Stop being right all the time," he said with a smile.

He gave her a kiss on the crown of her head, then placed a hand over hers. He just wanted to savor this moment, a reminder of why he asked Anali to marry him when he did. It may have been rash, given that they were both aware that they had mutual love for each other a short while. But Chrom could never regret it.

* * *

**Authors Note: **And that's it! The last chapter of the timeskip, we are getting back on track with the plot! I have no idea what I was thinking when I said I was aiming for five chapters when the skip started, but we're done! Granted the timeskip allowed a bit of world building, and time to develop relationships, but this sucker's already longer than the game itself! Eh… the child parologues… If I'm lucky maybe I can squeeze in two per chapter, but…

The game, especially Owain's parologue, makes it sound like the Brand appears sometime _after _birth, rather than being born with it. I generally think anywhere from a couple months to a year after birth. Anyone else feel like Chrom's wife would have been a little concerned when they first see the Brand in the baby's eye? Like, until this point we've seen the Brand appear somewhere on the _skin_, and it seems like it'd be easy to mistake her Brand for something harmful.

Cordelia is easily my least favorite character of this game (you can thank the fans who crap on Sumia in favor of Cordy for that) but she was one of my favorite character's to write, and her character arc is a favorite of mine. It's a bizarre little paradox really. That said it's not _completely_ over with as we still have Severa and _her_ feelings.

Now, I wonder why Anali seems to remember songs… Hmm?

*high-pitch whiny kid voice* Guuuuys, I've got so many killer ideas for the Fates fanfic I want to write and I want the English version now so I can start planning eeeeh… Granted those killer ideas are most definitely creative liberties… not like I didn't take any liberties with this sucker…

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	28. Chapter Twenty-Eight

**Chapter Twenty-Eight  
The Seacomers**

With her modified coat Anali looked something like a Dark Flier. Even the tunic underneath bore some resemblance to that worn by the Pegasus Knights, but it was near impossible to see with her kilt and the large breastplate on. The breastplate was, in theory supposed to prevent Anali from breaking her ribs again. Partially for her own safety, and mostly because constant the pain with every breath turned her into quite the beast and Chrom wasn't sure he could survive it again. The breastplate was not the only thing added to the assemble. There were a pair of greaves on her shins, and a pair of thick leather guards that went half-way up her forearms. And, of all things, a royal blue mantle with golden yellow trimming.

She kept her hair in the style Cordelia taught her; a braid that haloed around her head until it connected to a layer of hair that was pulled back into a ponytail with the remaining half hanging low. A couple of locks hung over her shoulders with a black feathered tied off at the end on each lock. The feather's were courtesy of Amalthea.

Anali felt strangely in her comfort zone, and yet she felt like she was just entering it for the first time.

Two days passed before the Shepherds arrived at Regna Ferox. It was as cold as ever, much to Anali's chagrin. Inside of Castle Ferox wasn't much better, it still looked as cold and unwelcoming as when Anali first set foot inside. Flavia was in the hall, pacing around until she spotted the Ylissean royals. Immediately the reigning Khan approached Anali, and the two embraced as soon as they were in arms length. "I apologize we couldn't get here sooner, Flavia," said Chrom.

"What matters is you are here," Flavia said when she and Anali parted.

"What can you tell us about these Valmese warships?"

Flavia sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Nothing you don't already know, I'm afraid. The details remain hazy."

"Not for much longer." Basilio walked up to them with two figures close behind him. "We have someone who should clear up a few things. But I'm sure you've already met."

The man stepped out from behind Basilio with a flip of his light blue hair. "Virion?" Anali questioned.

"Good day, lords and ladies," Virion greeted. "How fair you all? Allow me the great pleasure, and indeed honor, of introducing myself-"

"We already know who you are, Virion," Chrom interrupted in a deadpan. His eyes fell upon the woman at his side. She was a beauty with long dark pink hair. She was dressed in silvery-grey armor with a wing motif, and black, pinstripe clothing underneath. "I don't believe we've met your companion, however."

Virion crossed his arms over his chest, pouting. "You know nothing! Prepare for my great unmasking!" He suddenly started to move his arms dramatically. "Long have I posed as the archest of archers! Yet that was but a ruse! Yea, an artifice, to disguise myself as a mere above-average man! In truth, I am-"

The woman cleared her throat, she extended her arm gesturing to Virion. "May I present Duke Ari Virion," she spoke with a pleasant voice. "I am his humble servant, Cherche Dupont. Greetings, sire. You honor us with your presence."

Virion's voice broke. "Cherche! You stole my big moment!"

"You're first name is _Ari_?" Anali asked laughing. Not quite the name she was expecting from a man who really tried to build up his nobility.

"A pleasure, Cherche." Chrom gave her a brief nod in acknowledgement. "Perhaps you could speak on your master's behalf?"

"That may speed things along, yes," Cherche agreed. "Very well, first, concerning our origins… We hail from Rossanne, a fertile duchy on the continent of Valm. Milord is the head of House Virion, and the rightful ruler of Rosanne." A playful smile formed on Cherche's lips while she listed her head in Virion's direction. "A fact he often reminds us of… _loudly_."

"Ha!" Virion gripped his chin while he smiled a sly smile. "Is she not a true wit? She gets it all from me, you know."

Anali ended up snorting in her attempt to hide her laughter. "So what brings a noble and his charge all the way across the long sea?" Chrom asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"The Valmese," replied Viron. "Theirs was an unremarkable nation once. Tiny, almost pitifully so. Had our continent not shared its name, you might almost have forgotten it even existed. And so Valm might have remained… if not for Emperor Walhart the Conqueror.

"One by one, he has taken the surrounding realms into his growing empire. I had no choice but to… eh, recruit new allies to aid my people."

"You fled," Anali said bluntly. "You fled and then you met us, right?

Flinching, Virion stood up straight, his mouth pressed together in a hard line. "More or less, yes," Cherche said with a weak smile. "While milord hastily gathered his valuables and guided his people to safety, I alone remained to keep an eye on the Valmese crisis. I was there bearing witness as Rosanne was swallowed up by Emperor Walhart's overwhelming forces. In the end, I was force to flee to Regna Ferox seeking asylum."

"To my great relief, I might add!" Virion said with a hand over his chest. "Eligible women are one of Rosanne's most precious natural resources! It would be a shame to waste any, even ones who cut off their lord and mas-"

Keeping her gentle, polite smile, Cherche drove her heel into Virion's foot. The slightest of whimpers escaped his lips while Virion tried to keep a straight face. "As I was saying," said Cherche, "to make a long story short; Walhart has conquered our continent and is now seeking to conquer both Regna Ferox and Ylisse."

"She claims the Valmese fleet will be at our shores in a matter of days," Basilio took over. "We'll know soon enough if her story proves true."

"Well, I believe it," said Chrom. "We must secure your ports as soon as possible."

Virion raised his pointer finger. "You should know that Valm has the strongest cavalry in the world," he said. "But we've got Anali on our side, so I am not worried."

"Why, Virion, you old charmer," said Anali. "In all seriousness, though, I need as much information on these soldiers as possible."

"If I may," Cherche spoke up. "I'd like to volunteer my services. This may not be my country, but it is my cause." She smiled playfully. "And my dear Minerva hungers for a bit of action as well?"

"Minerva?"

It was decided that they would march to Port Ferox the next morning, a trip that would take less than a day, so even if the Valmese troops did arrive so soon and unexpected they could prevent them from doing too much damage to the surrounding town. Cherche and Minerva, who was in fact a wyvern, settled in amongst the Shepherds quite nicely. Though Cherche was a little on the fence with the idea of housing Minerva with Falkor, even if the wyvern seemed pretty content.

"I must say… Tybalt, right?" Cherche asked in the mess tent. "Your Falkor looks rather… worn down. Actually, so do you…"

Almost on cue Tybalt nearly nodded off, his face would landed in his food. "Yeah, a bit," Tybalt said after he caught himself. "Juggling my job as Captain of the Griffin Riders, and my duties as Duke hasn't been easy on both of us."

Cherche nodded briefly. She could understand trying to juggle two obligations at once. Heck, Cherche had to do it for nearly two years in Virion's absence. The moment she fled Roseanne was the first moment of peace she had in months. "I can't help but notice everyone in this army seems particularly… _close_," Cherche said eyeing everyone in the mess hall. It seemed like everyone was seated beside someone of the opposite sex. And the rings most of them wore did not go unnoticed by her. Through Virion's letters she already knew that Ylisse's Exalt had married his tactician, and about Chrom's stern lieutenant suddenly marrying one of the Pegasus Knights the very day he proposed to the girl.

"Yeah. Seems like everyone's getting hitched lately," Tybalt said through a sigh. "After witnessing four weddings I'm reminded why I'm not yet married, well that and the other reason."

She arched a brow when she heard this. Tybalt's own brow rose, then Cherche looked over her shoulder to find Virion standing behind her. "A thousand apologies for the interruption. But I'd like a word with the lady."

"If it's alright with the lady," said Tybalt.

"It is." Cherche stood up. Without another word she followed Virion outside the mess tent where they could talk in privacy. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

"Well, firstly I wanted to point out your training session with Nowi," said Virion. Cherche knew what he was talking about, but she wasn't the one training with Nowi, so much as the Manakete was playing with Minerva. "I did always say you were my most dedicated vassal."

"Your flattery is wasted on me," Cherche said with a lopsided smirk.

"_Flattery_?" Virion sounded appalled by the notion. "Surely you know by now that gallant Virion always speaks from the heart! If I had not been so cruelly robbed of my domains, you would still-"

The Wyvern Rider crossed her arms over her chest. "There's no point in discussing what might have been, or the 'what ifs.' This is reality, Ari. This is where we face each other on equal grounds now."

"Ah, reality," Virion sighed ruefully. "I have come to loathe that place as of late. You know that when my lands were stripped, your bonds of vassalage ended as well, yes? That is what I wished to discuss. You have no obligation to me, Cherche. You are free to serve whomever you choose. You can turn away now if you want."

"I am well aware of that, Ari." Cherche lowered her arms and looked him right in the eye. "But I never served you because of your land holdings."

"You didn't?" For a brief moment Viron's eyes widened. His heart fluttered. He recovered from it quickly with one of his usual, sly smirks while he gripped his chin. "Then was it, perchance, for love?"

Cherche's hair nearly stood up on end while her face flushed. "One more comment like that and I'll have Minerva eat you," she threatened flatly.

The next morning's objectives were clear, they would march south to Port Ferox, according to Basilio's scouts a warship would be arriving on the morrow at the earliest. Chrom could feel a headache coming on by the time he found his and Anali's tent. "Anali," he said as soon as he entered, "we've got news on the-"

He cut himself off when he saw his wife seated at her work bench. She had a map of Port Ferox drawn out with a number of tiny wooden figures scattered across the map. Half of the figures were all pushed to the corner while Anali had her head buried in her arms. Her shoulders shook and Chrom could hear the occasional sniffle. Chrom hurried to her side and knelt down to meet her eye-level. "What's wrong?" He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Anali, what's wrong?"

She lifted her head; her face was red and blotchy. Her bangs stuck to her tearstained face and forehead, and her eyes were red rimmed. "What's wrong?" Chrom repeated.

"I-I…" her voice quivered, "I miss Lucina..."

Chrom blinked once when he heard the answer. He smiled slightly and tried to dry Anali's eyes with the pads of his thumbs. He was not all that surprised when she said this, in fact it was something Chrom feared would happen. This was the longest and farthest they've both been from their baby. In the two days they were gone Chrom woke up half-expecting to fine Anali taking care of Lucina's morning rituals, and to see a smile on his little girls face. But instead he woke up to their tent and to Frederick getting Chrom and Anali for breakfast. "I know," he said simply. Brushing her bangs out of the way he gave her a soft kiss on her forehead. "I know..."

* * *

Early the next morning the Shepherds gathered around for their next course of action in anticipation for battle at Port Ferox. "We already have the Feroxi army at our disposal," Anali said, looking over her map while Chrom, Frederick, and the Khan's had the best view of it. "And while I trust the Khan's men, I want our horse rider's, and flying units at the ready. If these soldiers completely ravage the town they might…"

Her words were caught in her throat. From what she knew about Walhart and his men, 'ravage' would probably be the kindest thing they could do. It did not sound above them to completely massacre the village as a warning to both Regna Ferox and Ylisse. "Excuse me, Anali," Maribelle said raising her hand politely, "I'd like to be among those at the ready, as you say. I've been itching to use my newly acquired skill in battle."

"Uh… okay…" Anali looked back at her notes. That was a little unexpected, but it was something she could easily work with. "Alright, I want Virion at the ready should they have any flying units. If not, I still want you to find the soldiers weakest point. Since we have one archer I-"

"Yo," Vaike pumped his fist into the air, "the Vaike's got that covered."

"Wait, really?"

Vaike jerked his thumb over his shoulder, gesturing to the quiver of arrows strapped to his back. Anali slapped her hand against her forehead and rubbed her eyes for a moment. She's out of commission for three months and everyone decides to up their game. "If anyone else has been broadening their horizons can they let me know _now_?" she asked irritably.

In perfect unison, Sumia and Cordelia raised their hands into the air. "We've been learning to use healing staves," the red haired woman explained.

"Same here, Bubbles," added Gaius.

Nowi's hand shot up. "Do slingshots count?"

"No," Anali replied dully.

"Okay."

"I've been workin' with axes lately," Sully spoke up.

"Me too," said Elaine.

"_Okay_," Anali said releasing a breath, "if we've got all that taken care of-"

"Actually, Anali," Chrom whispered into her ear, "I've been using lances lately."

The irritated glare she gave him was almost strong enough to set him on fire right then and there. But this wasn't anything they couldn't work with. They had more healers now, that was always good. And some of the Shepherds were getting outside of their comfort zones, excellent. More than excellent. Granted it would have been nice to know _earlier_, but then again, Anali never exactly asked before the meeting.

The way Anali saw it, with what she knew about the Valmese soldiers, she couldn't really see the general himself fighting with his underlings. After all, a man who called himself 'the Conqueror' had to surround himself with his countries best and strongest. Even the lower-rank had to be in a class of their own compared to those of Regna Ferox. There was a chance that the general wouldn't concern himself with what he perceived as easy prey, so there was no reason for him to lift a finger in this town. If he did that it would have been both a blessing and a hindrance, but Anali had a plan for that if she was right.

After the meeting the Shepherds marched straight to Port Ferox. The Valmese warship arrived just as the Shepherds and Feroxi army did. The Shepherds remained hidden behind a few homes while the Khan's men were scattered across various parts of the village to keep civilians safe. The village had enough sense to keep themselves in their homes and to barricade their doors, though it may not have helped them in the long run. The ship carried an army that consisted of a number of Cavaliers, Paladins, Bow Knights, and Knights. A total of forty men in all. The ships general was a Paladin himself, who wore the most brilliant armor of them all. He sat upon his steed, unaffected as his men stormed into the village.

"I will not discuss terms with peasants," he declared projecting his voice, "I will instead issue demands to all. The Conqueror himself, Emperor Walhart, claims dominion over all these lands! Grant him your loyalty now and he _may_ grant you quarter!"

Anali had to bite her lower lip when she and Chrom peered around the corner of the shop they hid behind. The Khan's were not lying when they said these men were strong. Even their horse-mounted archers were muscle-bound. "These savages will never listen to reason," she heard Chrom mutter under his breath. She looked up to see a rather intense glare in her husband's eyes. Without another word, Chrom turned around to look at his Shepherds. "Alright everyone, prepare to engage!"

"Milord," Frederick spoke up, "are you certain about this? Another war…"

"I've been pondering Ylisse's place in the world since we left Ylisstol, Frederick. And my own. We must stand against men like this, or there can be no peace."

As though to prove his own point, Chrom withdrew his sword and nonchalantly thrusted his words through the neck of a passing Bow Knight. In a flash of light, Nowi transformed into a dragon. She leaped onto the rooftop, and let her breath out. Instantly the Shepherds were on the attack. One of the Knight's was trying to tear off his ice-covered vembrace and pauldron.

Cherche and Minerva were the next to reveal themselves to the Valmese soldier's before the rest of the Shepherds broke out into the frenzy. It was a turn of events that Dalton wasn't quite expecting, but loved all the same. Of course he head heard of Ylisse's conflict with Plegia two years ago, how an alliance between Ylisse and Regna Ferox was formed, how Exalt Emmeryn had thrown herself off a cliff for one noble reason or another, and how her younger brother had taken the title. Oh, sure, Dalton expected Regna Ferox to retaliate, but to bring Ylisse's army with them, this could be quite fun.

Nowi's sudden appearance like a monster attacking the village only left _some_ shaking in their boots. And that's only because they caught full force of her breath, and turned their armor into an ice box. Cherche and Minerva swooped into the air, over Nowi and the building, then nosedived back down. The axe in the Wyvern Rider's hand was driven straight into one of the Paladin's chest, their armor caved in on itself upon impact. When Cherche removed the axe from his person, small speckles of blood sprinkled onto the cobblestone. The Paladin was forced off of his steed as soon as Minerva's rider urged her around and her tail smacked right into him.

Maribelle kept one hand on her mare's reins and her head held high as she jumped over a fallen Cavalier like he was an ordinary mud puddle. No one would doubt that war was a messy affair, least of all her, but if she were to die on the field then she would go out with the dignity of a lady. It was the shriek of a few civilians. She found that a Knight and Bow Knight had successfully rammed down a door and were forcing the buildings inhabitants, a young couple and their children, out. Maribelle's brow furrowed, this was by far the worst kind of cowardice.

Tapping her heels against her mare's chest, urging her towards the building. She proceeded to open her red tome. "Excuse me," Maribelle spoke up, "is there a problem here?"

The Valmese Knight looked up at Maribelle. Smirking, he nudged the Bow Knight in the arm and listed his head in Maribelle's direction. All while the Bow Knight had the children's mother in hand. "If this one ain't a beauty," said the Knight, "wouldn't you agree?"

"Oh yes," the Bow Knight said licking his lower lip. "Little lady, if you stop this… whatever it is you're trying to do now, I can promise I'll be an easy lover."

Maribelle felt her face twist. "And I promise," she said with her hand extended forward. Orange-red ruins appeared at her fingertips. "_This_ will hurt."

The ball for fire was headed straight for the pair. The maiden through herself onto the ground, her hands covered her head and kept her hair down. The fire threw the Bow Knight off his horse, and sent the beast into a frenzy, immediately the maiden's husband tried to calm the beast down. Another ball of fire threw the Knight off his feet; Maribelle could hear his screaming from the inside of his heated armor.

Maribelle snapped her book closed. "Troglodytes," she said, flouncing her hair over her shoulder.

It was weird, if not a bit twisted to say that Priam was exhilarated to hear that they were going against Emperor Walhart. His was a strength that had to be seen to be believed. Granted the Valmese soldier's in his army back at the village came there to _get away _from Walhart and his army. He didn't realize Valm's problems had gotten this bad. Forcing other realms to their knees in submission was far from honorable and hardly strength.

Priam successfully sliced his blade through the Cavaliers lace, the staff was neatly cut in two. He caught a bit of movement in the corner of his eye. In a flash, he hurled Ragnell at the Bow Knight before he could release his arrow. The blade successfully embedded itself in the Bow Knight's chest, and threw the man off his steed. And then came the sword to Priam's shoulder.

The shock was enough to make him drop to one knee; he gripped the bleeding wound while he tried to get his thoughts straight. "Well, that was downright foolish," the Cavalier said gripping his sword.

"You're in luck," a feminine voice came from behind Priam, "violence is on sale today!"

Win a flurry of red, the Secret Seller leapt over Priam and dug her sword into the Cavalier right between his neck and shoulder. Anna effortlessly pulled the sword out of the recently deceased Cavalier. "Not bad," Priam got onto his feet.

"'Not bad,'" Anna said, mimicking Priam. "Is that really the best thank you you can muster? I'll have to remember that when I'm healing that cut of yours." She pointed at his injured shoulder.

Priam simply let out a grunt and walked pass Anna to retrieve his sword. He paused in place, his eyes wide and face flushed scarlet as soon as he felt something slap against his derriere. Something that felt unmistakably like a hand. Despite the throb in his shoulder Priam peered over his shoulder to fine Anna skipping in the opposite direction. This woman…

Anali stepped to the side as Vaike released his arrow, successfully striking an oncoming Cavalier. Looking up Anali spotted Tybalt, Sumia and Cordelia were already taking care of Dalton's entourage, and there was Chrom taking on Dalton himself. Her brow furrowed together, the idiot. She slid her sword back into it's sheath and ran up the plank, onto the ship. Dalton had small, throw able lances, and a predatorily look in his eye. Without another word, Anali got the yellow tome out of it's sling and proceeded to open in. The familiar ruins formed by her hand as she tossed the spell at Dalton. The Paladin was thrown off his horse, his front blackened with scorch marks. "What…" Dalton painted, still in shock, "how…"

The Paladin's breath was caught in his throat when Chrom drove his blade into Dalton's abdomen. His head fell against the floor, his eyes glossed over while blood started to pool around him.

* * *

Anali sat on a crate while Lissa massaged her right hand with a bit of salve Stahl donated to the armory. Her skin was stinging and probably beginning to blister. Had Anali's hands really got that delicate within the last few months? She watched while Gaius held a healing staff around a villagers arm, a green light surrounded the villager's burn and within seconds, the wound started to look better.

It was lucky that more of the Shepherds units had taken up healing. While they won the battle, the town was in shambles, as was the Khan's army. A few of the homes were set on fire, hence why a few villagers suffered burns, and the shops were pillaged. Thankfully there were no casualties among the villagers, and Cherche, Tybalt, and Nowi managed to put out the fires.

"This is most troubling," Frederick told Chrom who was in conversation with Flavia and Basilio. In unison Anali and Lissa looked up at the two. "Feroxi soldiers are the finest of the east. If they had trouble today, we're all in trouble."

"That's not the _half_ of it," Flavia said with a humorless laugh. She gestured to the Valmese vessel to help emphasize her point. "This was just the _vanguard_, just a small taste of the meal yet to come."

"And once that arrives, their host will wash over the whole continent in a matter of weeks," added Basilio. "There's no way we could repel them and defend our people. It'd be nothing short of genocide."

Chrom crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. "Ylisse is no better equipped to handle an attack from the sea," he murmured. He looked over his shoulder to his wife. "Anali, what do you suggest?"

Anali stood up and crossed her own arms. While undoubitly strong, the Valmese army were a cavalry. If they were to remove them from their element then they might have something of a chance. Although Anali was not going to like how they would do that. "Their cavalry puts us at a disadvantage… on land," she said with her pointer finger erect. "Now, if we were to catch them at sea…"

Chrom could see what she was getting at. However, there was one major flaw in that plan. "But how can we do that?" he asked. "Ylisse has no warships, nor does Ferox."

"So we'd need aid from a kingdom that _does_," said Basilio.

Flavia raised an inquisitive brow. "You have someplace in mind, oaf?"

"Perhaps a land that borders the sea, with enough wealth to afford this campaign?"

Anali nodded her head slightly. She was thinking the exact same thing. After all, who else paid for the damage done to the war two years ago? "Plegia."

"No," Chrom said instantly. "Out of the question."

"They have gold, boy! Countless ship!" Basilio argued. "And more importantly, we have a fart's chance in the wind without them."

"The oaf's right," Flavia nodded her head slightly, "_Crude_, but right. It's out best chance."

"Chrom," Anali took his hand into hers, "won't you reconsider? If we don't get their help we may as well just drop our swords now."

He squeezed his wife's hand. Of course they needed these ships if they had any hope, but that required seeking an audience with Plegia's new king. On the one hand he hasn't tried any stunts like Gangrel, but on the other hand he had yet to extend the olive branch to them either. But that could have been simply due to the fact that he had the misfortune of being Gangrel's successor.

Chrom knew it was easier said than done, but he shouldn't hold onto his grudge towards Plegia, not after it's own people were on the brink of revolution after Emmeryn's actions. Not after their ex-soldier's not only recovered Emm's body, but returned her to Ylisstol. Not after he _married_ a Plegian woman. "Very well," Chrom sighed. He turned to Frederick, "Send a messenger and request a summit immediately. Let's pray this Validar is more reasonable than Gangrel."

Two days passed before they received a reply from Plegia. During that time the Shepherds helped in the Port Ferox restoration in any way they could. The damage was mild compared to what could have happened without the Shepherds. Approached Chrom and Anali on the second day with news from Plegia. They would meet with the king himself on their outpost on Carrion Isle. "A poor venue should thing go sour," said Frederick, "as the island's name makes plain. But then I don't see we have much of a choice."

"Cautious as ever, Frederick the Wary," Chrom said giving Frederick a weak, lighthearted smile. "Don't worry, we'll get our ships. This threat at hand looms over all of us - Plegia as well. Validar must see that."

"I suppose this means we'll be setting sail soon…" Anali said weakly. She paused for a moment before she let out a dry sob.

She _hated_ sailing.

Amazingly, however, the two most seasick-prone in the Shepherds felt as right as rain. Smiling, Donnel found Tharja looking out at the horizion as the ship sailed to Carrion Isle. He opened his mouth to say something. "_Don't_," Tharja forced through her teeth. "It was _just_ to make Anali comfortable. Don't read much into it."

Shrugging to himself, Donnel seated himself on the railing. "Can I ask somethin' though?"

"Knock yourself out."

"When we were headed to the Farfort you didn't seem to do anything for Anali's seasickness then. Fact, I'd recon the baby made it worse. Why didn't you do anythin' then?"

"Long story short; it would have effected the baby," said Tharja. "It's generally not a good idea to use magic on young children, or fetuses because their brains are still developing. Had I used magic on Anali when she was that early in her pregnancy may have killed the brat at worse."

"Well, that's mighty kind of ya," Donnel said with a bold grin.

The Dark Mage could feel the heat on her cheeks, and her ears. "Well, for whatever reason Anali wanted that brat so…" she forced out. "Don't read too much into it."

Hugging herself, Tharja looked out at the horizon. While she would still fight for Anali's _attention_, she had pretty much resigned to the fact that hers was a love not meant to be for two reasons (maybe three reasons if she counted the baby) that complicated things. Strangely, it didn't bother Tharja as much as she thought it would when she first met Anali.

Besides, there was always the next life.

While Tharja preferred to keep her good deeds to herself, Anali had the suspicion that the Dark Mage was the very reason she could look out to see like this. The experience would have been lovely if sailing wasn't forever ruined for her. "Anali," Cordelia said suddenly at the tactician's side, "feeling okay? I know you and Panne are pretty prone to getting ill on the sea."

"Yeah," nodded Anali, "I'm feeling pretty good."

"That's a relief. I feel like I must apologize for not properly informing you about the whole healing magic thing. You're our tactician, you should know about this before we go into battle."

Anali waved it off. "I'm still getting back into the swing of thing. I'm a little out of shape from the baby, and I haven't come up with war strategies for two years. Although," beaming she nudged her elbow into Cordelia's side, "I did hear about you and Stahl."

A blush appeared on Cordelia's cheeks. As they had agreed Stahl found a ring and proposed properly. And as she promised, Cordelia said yes. It was something else, experiencing _real_ love, and to be rid of such bratty, childish thoughts. Thankfully, Stahl didn't question whether or not Cordelia meant it when she told him she would accept. That she wasn't going to marry him because she couldn't have what she wanted, and he was the only one offering. Their first kiss had gotten Cordelia's feelings across; she loved him, _him_. Not Chrom, not a prince who only lived in her imagination, but Stahl. "Yes," Cordelia said while playing with a lock of hair, "the timing couldn't have been worse, but I think he had me that day in Elrond."

"I hope I'm not offending," Anali said, "but I wasn't even aware Stahl was carrying a torch for someone."

"Mmm, yes, neither did I. At least not until he told me. I think it's just because how he reads people."

Anali bobbed her head in agreement. Something changed, and Anali wasn't sure what. She spent nearly two years trying to figure out what she'd done to Cordelia to have her actively avoid Anali, but this was wonderful. Cordelia was actually talking to her again, she approached Anali and instigated a conversation. What had changed though? What had caused Cordelia to avoid her in the first place?

Anali was a little afraid to ask.

* * *

The Shepherds set up camp as soon as they arrived on Carrion Isle. The land was filled with greenery, and a lone fortress. Anali held onto Chrom's hand while Frederick accompanied them to the meeting. In front of the fortress, a lone woman was waiting for them. She was very familiar, though none of them had seen her in two years. "Greetings, Exalt Chrom," the woman said, her voice low and sultry, "Plegia welcomes you."

"Aversa?!" Anali gasped before she could stop herself.

"Mmm, yes," the woman said, playing with a lock of white hair. "It seems fate has designs for me yet. Follow me, Validar has been so looking forward to this."

"Uh…" Chrom stared at her, "yes, lead the way."

Aversa's heels clapped against the floor while she lead the trio through the dimly lit hallway. The last time any of them had seen her was the day Emmeryn died; Aversa wasn't on the battle field with Gangrel for the last battle. Had she been amongst those who had abandoned him? But that didn't make sense, Aversa was the one who summoned the Risen and foiled Anali's rescue plan.

"So, you serve this King Validar, now?" Chrom asked breaking the silence.

"I do," Aversa said without looking at him.

"They say he worships Grima," Frederick said flatly.

"Why yes, of course he is Grimleal. In fact we are _both_ believers. My liege often says it was his faith that got him through Gangrel's passing. It was a difficult time, but he kept order where there might have been chaos."

At the end of the hall, Aversa held open a door for them, allowing the three into a dining hall. Anali could smell lamb, cooked greens, and rice, it brought upon her an odd nostalgia. At the table, two people were already seated, one of them was a man, about twenty-four, with white hair and brown eyes dressed the armor of a Wyvern Rider. The second man at the head of the table was tall, and his skin seemed rather sickly. A soon as the two saw their Ylissean guess walk in the man at the head of the table stood up, revealing the sorcerer robes he wore. "Ah, welcome," he said with a bold grin and extended arms. "An honor to finally meet you, sire. I am Validar Fauder, king regent of Plegia."

In a moment of panic, Anali held on tight to Chrom's hand. This was the very same man they fought in her nightmares, _that_ nightmare. It was a coincidence. Just a coincidence. It had to be just a coincidence. Just a… wait a minute, Anali had seen him outside of her dreams, hadn't she?

"The honor is ours, good king," Chrom said, leading Anali to the table where they sat down. Staring at Validar, his brow knit together. "Is it possible we've met somewhere before?"

"I can't say we have," Validar said taking his seat once more. "I'm quite certain I would remember any encounter with Ylissean royalty."

Chrom's hand tighten around Anali's. He must have been thinking the same thing she was. That night Plegian's broke into the palace, the attack Marth warned them about. Anali was certain this was the same man they fought against that night. But they _killed_ him, yes he pulled himself away from the scene, but he was dying. "And the lovely lady at your side must be Lady Anali," Validar said eyeing her.

Anali felt her face flush. "Y-you know of me, sire?" she asked.

"I imagine the world knows of the master tactician Exalt Chrom took as his wife. And indeed, I see the sparkle of wisdom in your eyes."

Anali bit her lower lip feeling some sort of 'pull' towards Validar. That was the only thing she could thing of to describe it, some sort of 'pull.' Unnerved, she looked down the empty plate in front of her. "Before I forget," Validar said, gesturing to the white-haired man, "allow me to introduce my son, and captain of the guard, Arun."

In unison Chrom and Anali looked up at Frederick, who looked as confused as they did. "I'm sorry," Chrom said looking at both Validar and Arun, "none of us were aware you had children."

"I wouldn't worry yourself over it, sire," Aversa said with a wine goblet in her hand. "my liege and Arun tend to forget their relation themselves."

Arun listed his head to the side in agreement. Asside from the clank of dishes, and the sound of knives shilling against a flat surface, and the movement of liquid there was an awkward silence in the room. At least it was awkward for the three Ylisseans. For Validar, Aversa, and Arun it seemed like a regular thing for them.

The whole while Anali could feel the 'pull' and Validar's eyes on her. The same red eyes that followed her dreams right until that one moment that always shook Anali to the very core. Of all the meetings she couldn't wait to see the end of, this was definitely _it_.

She heard Chrom nudge his plate away. "Perhaps we should get to it," he said with his arms crossed on the table. "Walhart has already conquered Valm, and threatens to do the same with the realms across the sea. It's only a matter of time before Plegia comes under siege of the Valmese troops. If we can have your cooperation we might be able to stop this and liberate Valm."

"That I can agree with, sire," Validar said before taking a sip from his wine goblet. "And consider my cooperation yours. Arun, if you will?"

Arun leaned back in his chair. "We can offer you eight hundred warships and two hundred transports," he said. "However, we can offer you no soldiers. As embarrassing as it is Gangrel left our military in shambles."

"However," Aversa added, "we are fully able to and pleased to fund the campaign against Valm."

Anali's brow rose for a moment. A thousand vessels and fully funded campaign, she was expecting a little less than that. They could work around the lack of Plegian soldier's easily, and Anali thought she could work with the thousand vessels. "That is…" Frederick said slowly, "surprisingly generous of you, milord. We could not ask for more… quite literally."

"Then I trust the gold and ships will suffice as a sign of our commitment to the cause?" asked Validar.

"Of course it will," said Chrom.

The dining room door suddenly opened. "Oh dear, am I late?"

A woman in the black garb of a sorceress walked up to the table. She had on a black cloak, which she wore off her shoulders with the hood up, hiding her face. On her arms were a pair black sleeves with a slit right down the middle. She strolled up to the table, and stood between Aversa and Arun's seats. "A bit, I'm afraid," said Validar. His gave fell upon their visitors. "Since we're all here, might I introduce our hierophant, the highest of her order in all Plegia."

"S-so… you lead the people in worship?" Anali asked. "We were actually discussing religion earlier…"She paused; she could feel the hierophant's gaze on her. "I'm sorry, have I said something to offend?"

"The heart still sleeps," said the hierophant, "but the blood flows through it. And the blood is strong…"

"Huh? Were you talking to me?"

"Good hierophant," Frederick stood up, "I would ask you to lower your cowl. In Ylisse, it is a courtesy expect of one in the presence of royalty."

The hierophant's gaze snapped in Frederick's direction. Cowl up or down it was obvious that she was glaring daggers of him. "You are a long way from Ylisse," she said with a slight growl in her tone. The hierophant cleared her throat and began to speak more pleasantly, "But as you wish…"

Her hands grasped at the fabric of her hood and she guided it down. Anali could feel her blood run cold while the hierophant fluffed her hair. "Is that better?"

Chrom had stood up so fast he knocked his chair over. Anali remained frozen place, her eyes locked on the hierophant. She was the very same image as Anali, same color of hair, same hair style, same skin, same face, same eyes. However, the hierophant lacked the scar under her left eye that Anali had. "My name is Anali," the hierophant said with a slight condescending tone. "Oh," her eyes fell upon the ashen Anali, "but that's _your_ name as well, isn't it? My what a small world."

"That _is_ rather curious, now that you mention it," Validar said nonchalantly as he stood up. "What _are_ the odds? In any case, I believe we are finished here. We will let you be on your w-"

"Hold on!" Chrom cut him off. He gestured to the hierophant. "What is the meaning of this? Why do your hierophant and Anali-"

"I'm afraid we've no time for such trivial matters, Your Highness," said Aversa. "We have aid preparations to attend to, and you have a long, hard journey ahead. I assume you can find your way out. And _do_ be careful on your way back to Port Ferox. This time of year the highroads of Plegia can be quite… _treacherous_."

Without another word, Validar, Arun, Aversa, and the hierophant left the room. As soon as the door closed behind the four Chrom snapped his head in Frederick's direction. "What the hell was _that_?"

"I'm not sure myself, milord," Frederick ran a hand through his hair. "I've heard of identical strangers, but the only time I've seen it that down to pat is with Miss. Anna and her sisters."

Gritting his teeth, Chrom's fingers entangled themselves with his own bangs. Whatever that was felt staged, they had wanted them to see that. They wanted Anali to see the hierophant. "What do you think, Anali?" he asked. No response. "Anali?"

His wife remained frozen in her seat. Her eyes stared straight at the spot where the hierophant once stood, and her hands gripped the fabric of her tunic so hard her knuckles were white.

* * *

**Authors Note: **Feels like I've been updating chapter's like there's not tomorrow lately. Well, then again, we've got a bit scene to look forward too next chapter, so that's probably it.

I suppose this chapter answered a question I've been asked a couple of time. Whether or not we'll be seeing the character in their promoted classes. The answer is; yes and no. In this chapter we clearly see some of the character's growing into one of their promoted class options Maribelle and her magic (Valkyrie), Vaike and his bow (Warrior), Sully and an axe (Great Knight or Paladin), Elaine's had an axe for a while (War Cleric), Cordy, Sumia, and Gaius with healing salves (Falchion Knight and Trickster), and we've seen Lissa and her magic for a while (Sage). And Anali's all but stated to be a mix between Grandmaster and Dark Flier while Chrom's been working with lances.

I didn't want them to be all _poof! _CLASS CHANGE! But rather everyone growing into their second tier classes. However, some of the second tier classes are a little tricky to portray someone growing into considering their essentially just a stronger version of their starter class with a new outfit and sometimes with another weapon. Most of the promotions in Embers are what I often do in-game because I'm a real creature of habit. Like with Lissa. The instant I realized that Lissa has the same Sage garb as Emmeryn it was pretty much written from then on that she promotes into a Sage whenever I play. Same could be said about Sage!Lissa and Valkyrie!Maribelle using Wind and Fire magic respectively.

And I've kind of all but stated that I've headcanoned/been writing Nowi as an ice dragon. Like, when I first played the game I didn't realize that she was unspecified, but her breath always looked like it was supposed to be cold to me, so I just always figured she was an ice dragon.

I'm honestly not sure if Cordy's ever going to come clean to Anali about why she was avoiding her. _'Oh, see I was just projecting my desires onto your husband long before you two even met and convinced myself it was tru wuv. Unfortunately I didn't realize what I was doing by the time I found out about you two, and it was just easier to get mad at and resent you. But don't worry, it's all cool now.' _Don't really think that'll fly over well, y'know.

Yeah, I know I'm incredibly lame for making Validar's surname his _Japanese name_.

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	29. Chapter Twenty-Nine

**Chapter Twenty-Nine  
Of Sacred Blood**

_I don't know if I've sustained a new wound on my back or if the old wound has ruptured again. I'm just flat out drained. The retaliation in vengeance for Emmeryn turned out to be for naught. Gangrel had nothing to do with it, in fact he was downright pissed that he wasn't the one to off the Exalt, nor did he have the Fire Emblem. The attackers were, without a doubt, Plegian, but this was an independent party._

_And here we were, our tails between our legs after a 'sure fire declaration of war,' according to Gangrel. We had to fight for our lives if we wanted out of Plegia. It's raining, I'm chilled to the bone, and I'm bleeding out of my back again. I lost it again against these soldiers sent to kill us. The Exalt was dead, the Fire Emblem stolen, and our usual suspect was actually innocent. My rampage didn't help with my back injury, assuming I didn't rupture it again._

_Chrom was the only one who could get me to calm down. He's always the calming presence in my life since we first met. So he has me on his back while we search for the others. "How's your arm?" I murmur._

"_Fine," Chrom replies, "never better."_

_Liar. I can feel the tremor in his right arm. He's not doing anything by helping me like this. Gods, why am I still alive?_

"_This could not get any worse…" I mutter._

"_I can think of worse situations," says Chrom. I feel a chill run through him, the rain was having an him too. "We'll find the Fire Emblem… and we'll give Emm her justice."_

_I tighten my grip on his neck, if I weren't so tired and numb I'd probably be crying right about now. __**That**__ should be my line. __**I**__ should be assuring __**him**__ that we'll find Emmeryn's killer and get the Fire Emblem back not the other way around. It was his sister who died horribly, he's the one who is next in line for the Ylissean throne, __**he's**__ the one who needs the comforting and reassuring. _

_Just… stop. Stop giving me such kindnesses. Just… just stop… Just don't leave me. No! Stay away… don't go… I can hardly think straight… I'm a mess…_

_I feel lightheaded… blood loss no doubt… that would explain why I can't think straight. "Chrom…"_

"_Hm?"_

"_I might be a little in love with you…"_

_He stops in place, probably momentarily forgetting that I'm bleeding out right now. I don't care. What I do care is that his right arm is trembling, if he had any semblance of sense he'd drop me right now. But he won't, because something noble or stupid. The lines cross so often they're probably the same thing. "Actually…" Chrom's voice trails off, "it's funny you should say that, Anali…"_

_My vision blurs, in a flash, I'm upright and wide eyed as Chrom holds the volt of orange-yellow electricity that is embedded into him. No, no, no, no not this again! His free hand caresses my cheek, wiping away the tears in my eye. "This is not your-your fault…" Chrom rasps out. Stop it! __**Stop. It. **__Don't comfort me! Don't be so tender with me! Just… "Promise me… you'll escape from this place… Please… go…"_

_Chrom's eyes roll back into his head. He drops to his knees, then finally collapses onto the floor. "Oh dear, am I late?" I hear._

_With a face stained with tears, and a sob threatening to escape, I look up to see Plegia's hierophant walk up to me in steady strides. Our faces identical, but she has a sinister smile on her face. "Why do you still resist?"_

_The scene changes, I'm standing outside in the rain again. "Fall back and form up!" I hear. The voice is deep, rumbling and very, __**very **__familiar. "Don't let them scatter us!"_

_Basilio and his men come into view, weapons drawn. His soldier's obey the Khan's order while Basilio himself remains behind. I'm not sure if it's to make a stand against the enemy, or to be sure his soldier's all fall back safely. "Sir," one of the soldier's approach him, "we have trouble. Their cavalry is riding right over us!"_

_Feroxi stragglers cry out, they're swatted down like flies who just had their legs pulled off. I can't quite see the enemy through the heavy rain and natural darkness, but it's obvious that they're strong. I fear Basilio's men can not win this. By some miracle one of the stragglers managed to make it to his Khan, but his shoulder and neck are bleeding something fierce. "Sir! We're dropping like cattle out there," he says, "we need to cut our losses!"_

"_Soldier, you'll find that 'surrender' is no where in my vocabulary!" Basilio barks at the soldier. He points straight at the battle field. "Now we fight his army until there's one man standing if we have to!"_

"_Sir, we're not fighting an army!"_

_In unison, Basilio and I look out onto the field. I see a lone figure on horseback. He's a regular giant of a man in imposing red armor. In his hand is a large, red and black axe that's almost as tall as he is. "Aw crap," I hear Basilio hiss._

_The lone soldier swings his axe at Basilio's men, removing limbs and killing them with one hit. Just one. Basilio has to see reason… __**he has **__to. He just can't win against this giant. It's suicide! Doesn't he realize that?!_

_But Basilio mutters something to the soldiers at his side. They run off, leading the other Feroxi soldiers off the field. For once I have to agree with Flavia's nicknames for him. This is suicide. This is a battle he can't win… he can't…_

_Basilio's hand grips tight around his own axe, and he charges straight for the soldier. He did not give Basilio the chance to attack, he beat the Khan to the punch. With one swing of his axe Basilio is thrown back. Blood splurts from the wound he's just sustained on his chest. He lands on the ground and starts gasping for breath as he tries to get up. "Impressive," says the soldier, he had his axe balanced over one shoulder, "not many can withstand a single attack. But all have met with the same fate."_

"_It's a… a fate we both… share," Basilio chokes out, blood begins to seep out of the corners of his mouth. "Believe me… I look forward to our… our rematch in hell…"_

"_I'm afraid you'll have quite some time to wait then," says the soldier._

_In a flash the soldier brings his axe down, Basilio's body falls limp onto the ground. His head, however, flies into the woods. To my surprise, the hierophant walks out of the woods and picks up Basilio's severed head. "What a world, huh?" she asks looking directly at me._

Anali woke with a start. She sat up in the cot gripping the blanket all the while. A layer of sweat chilled her body. Her fingers wrapped themselves around her bangs. These dreams… wasn't it enough that they filled her with enough dread as it was, but now she was seeing the hierophant in them too?

She looked at Chrom, sleeping peacefully at her side. Anali wanted him to give her some form of comfort, to just hold her even if he didn't have anything to say. But she couldn't wake him like this, not when they were in the middle of a stressful time. She wanted her baby, caring for her would have taken the dread away, caring for Lucina always made the future seem so bright. The longing to see her again was enough to drive Anali to tears again. But she couldn't go back to Ylisstol now, and she wasn't about to leave the army just so she could see her again.

Anali dressed herself in her tunic, slacks, and coat, perhaps a bit of fresh air would help if she was going to deny herself the two comforts she wanted the most. She hugged her coat close to her as she walked away from the campsite. The hierophant refused to leave her thoughts. It shouldn't have been possible for her to resemble Anali _that_ much, should it? Yes, there was Anna and her sisters but they were related so there was bound to be a resemblance. But the hierophant had the exact same face and eye shape as Anali. She even had her hairstyle down to pat.

"_Anali…"_

She pulled to a stop and lowered her arms. "Who's there?!" she demanded turning around on her heel in an instant. The camp was in the distance, but it didn't appear that anyone had followed her. Anali let out a slight sigh as she turned back around.

And then it came. The splitting, skull-torn-open headache that hit her hard and without mercy. Anali may have screamed, she may have fallen to her knees but she could hardly register anything going on around her. "Why do you close your heart to him, Anali?" she heard. "We both know you're smarter than that."

Anali's eyes creaked open to find Validar standing over her. "What…?"

He crossed his arms over his chest disapprovingly. "Did that wench never tell you?" he asked. "Well, if this isn't a turn of events."

She had one palm pressed flat against her forehead, while her other hand gripped at the grass. So she did fall to her knees after all. "En… what… are you…?" Anali tried to say her words were cut off by another pulse of pain.

Validar chuckled under his breath. "Such arrogance," he said. What? Anali hardly said anything, how did her grunts warrant that response? "You dare take such a tone with your own father?"

Anali couldn't keep her eyes closed any longer though it made her headache worse. She was fully aware of her blood running cold, and the fact that she was no longer focusing on the pain. Had she heard right? Validar… her father? No… No! That was crazy! That was…

"You are of my flesh," Validar continued, "but of sacred blood. You are to serve a glorious purpose!" He outstretched his arms as he spoke. "You already know it is your destiny…" He paused. Slowly his arms lowered and a scowl formed on his face. "Why do you resist us, Anali?! Your rightful place is at my side, not wasting your time with these doomed servants of Naga!"

She was sure she was pulling at her hair roots now. She could feel it, she was starting to hyperventilate. The images from Anali's most haunting dreams flooded back to her all at once. "No…"

"Give yourself to Grima, stupid girl!" Validar snapped at her. "Let me join your strength to the fell dragon!"

Yelling was the only thing Anali could do to silence him. Her thoughts were running all over the place, so fast Anali couldn't even make sense of what's going on. She wasn't even sure if she _wanted_ to.

"Anali!"

In an instant Validar was gone, and Anali felt a hand on her shoulder. The pain suddenly subsided, making her feel lightheaded, she fell into someone's chest. Anali grabbed onto the person's bare arm, her knuckles turned white while she tried to catch her breath. "Anali," Chrom said while he moved her hair out of her face, "are you all right? I heard shouting…"

"I-I think so…" Anali stuttered. Should she tell him about Validar? It seemed impossible but, he had to be Emmeryn's would-be murderer that night. Chrom wouldn't think any different of her, would he? No, he knew what he was getting into when he married her, but… "I'm… I'm fine…"

To her surprise Chrom roughly grabbed her by the shoulders and held her at arms length. "'Fine' is a poor choice of words!" he snapped. "What happened?!"

Fear flashed through Anali's eyes. It was brief but it was enough to make Chrom reevaluate his approach. When he woke up to find Anali wasn't in bed with him, he didn't think much of it at first. Then he heard her shouting and he assumed the worse. And then Chrom found her, on her knees, in pain. He was worried.

But snapping at her wasn't the way to go, he realized that quickly. Anali had been in distress since they had seen the hierophant and she was clearly frazzled _now_. Snapping like that certainly wasn't going to help at all. Knitting his brow, Chrom pulled Anali back into his chest. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I shouldn't have snapped like that. What happened?"

"I… I don't know," she murmured, "King Validar, he… he spoke to me… I think. I don't know. But… he said I was his…" Anali didn't want to say it. Saying it out loud would have made it all the more real, something she couldn't avoid anymore. "His daughter…"

"What?!" Chrom gasped. He held Anali at arm's length again. Her face looked ashen, and her eyes sunken in. She may as well had just been crying. "Is this true?"

Anali nodded slowly. "I can't explain it, but I felt some sort of connection between us," she said.

Chrom stayed silent, trying to absorb this new information. Validar was her father? So who did that make that hierophant? Was she his daughter as well? Would that have made her Anali's sister? They could have been twins, that would have explained the striking resemblance.

He felt his wife's arms around him, her hands gripped onto the fabric of his clothes. "I'm sorry…" she murmured, "I still can't remember… I can't confirm or deny anything… I'm not sure I _want_ to remember anymore…"

Chrom held Anali close to him. "You are yourself, before you are any man's daughter," he said. "Remember that." Anali nodded, she just looked downright drained of energy and the day had hardly started. "Can you walk?"

"I think so," murmured Anali.

Chrom held onto Anali's arms as they stood up. She still looked frazzled, she certainly _felt_ frazzled. This was worst than the first few nights since Anali woke up on the wayside, still scared and shy around others. The hierophant and Validar had just turned her whole world upside-down.

A rustling in the trees caught Chrom's attention. Noticing that Anali was unarmed, he lead her behind him. "Who's there?" he demanded.

There was a thud as the person leapt out of the tree and landed with grace on his feet. Even in the dark of night Chrom could see that he wore Plegian colors and the garb of an assassin. And while he kept his cowl up Chrom recognized the metal mask that covered the lower half of his face. It had been a good two years since they had seen or heard this man. "You," was all Chrom could say.

"Yeah, I know," the man said with a list of the head, "long time, no see. But, I'm not here to make small-talk. If you get your army ready now you should be able to counter the on-coming Risen."

Chrom eyed the masked man warily, he didn't have much of a reason to distrust this man. After all, he was right when he told them that Gangrel wasn't behind the attack on the palace, and he did bring Elaine to Regna Ferox after Ylisstol had fallen. "Look," the man said using one hand to speak with him, "I don't understand how it works, but these aren't like the random hordes of Risen you've fought before. These guys are being commanded through their Chief, so long as the Chief is alive every Risen within a hundred-mile radius will come after your army. You're best bet is to head straight for the Chief, then run as soon as he's dead."

"That shouldn't be too hard," Anali mumbled. "We have enough fliers to get to it, we just have to identify it."

"Anali, I think you should sit this one out," said Chrom.

"What?"

"Have you looked at yourself? You're not in the right mindset to be in battle right now."

"Then I'll just _get_ in the right mindset," Anali said with a growl and a furrowed brow.

"Anali-"

"I'm. Going." she said through gritted teeth. Her brow was knitted together in a scowl, and the red in her eyes succeeded in highlighting her anger.

"You two can have your marital spat later," said the assassin, "but you need to get your army ready. _Now_."

* * *

With the camp's posted sentries they were able to wake the Shepherds, and get their effects by the time the horde was on them. The Plegian assassin had actually decided to stick around and help, despite Frederick's hesitation to accept. The assassin may have helped them a couple of times but they knew next to nothing about him.

Anali put on her armor as quickly as possible, she cursed Frederick and Chrom's insistent that she wear them. Sumia thankfully had gotten Amalthea ready for her while Anali discussed strategy with Chrom. "If what… _he _said is true," said Anali. She added under her breath, "Seriously, what's his name?" She cleared her throat. "Anyway, if what he said is true then we just need to locate the Chief, and just have one of our flying units get to it. The problem is if there's archers and mages. Our footmen will have a disadvantage."

"Yes, in hindsight this wasn't a very good spot," mused Chrom.

The area they had set up camp looked like it was once a reservoir that connected to the nearby river. It may have been the remains of a government program, given the abandoned fortresses off the shore. The water had dried up a long time ago, leaving the greenery to overtake the barren landscape. The reservoir had been very deep in it's hay day, and the Shepherds had set up camp right in the middle of the reservoir. Meaning their footmen were sitting ducks for any Risen attack. "It should be easy to get around," said Anali, "it's just another thing for our fliers to worry about."

"Milord," Frederick called approaching the two on horseback. "The Risen we were told about have arrived, they'll be here any second."

"Right," Chrom said with a curt nod.

Immediately Anali hurried towards Amalthea. Like clockwork Risen appeared at the edge of the cliff sides. The Archers and Snipers immediately drew their bows and released the arrows while their foot soldiers boxed them in through the shore line and the bridge. "All right, everybody move out!"

Sumia, who had been previously hovering over head let out a frighten scream. A large flock of crows was headed right for them. Before they knew it the field was blanketed by black birds. Mercifully the Risen were unable to see through the flurry of dark feathers any more than the Shepherds could. "What in the…?" Chrom questioned with one arm in front of his face while the birds flew around him.

"Are you folks lost?" a youthful voice asked. "Or perhaps you're a lost _caws_?" The voice's owner laughed at his own joke.

"What?"

The birds started to fly around Chrom and this newcomer, creating a personal bubble around them amongst the flurry. The newcomer seemed fairly youthful, probably about Lissa, Maribelle, and Elaine's age. His hair was as white as snow, and he was dressed in Plegian garb. "What's wrong?" the boy, Henry, asked. "_Caw_-strophobic?" Again, he started laughing at his own joke. "Ah, I slay me!"

"Not if these Risen do it first," said Chrom. "Now's not the time for japes! Hide yourself while you can!"

"You know, I'd wish you good luck killing these monsters, but…" he outstretched his arms, "_they're already dead_!"

"As we're well aware of!"

"Actually," Henry held a finger erect, "the crows wanted me to let you know that you should keep an eye on the bridge. You should find what you're looking for there."

"I can't exactly _see_ much right now," Chrom noted, pointing at the birds around them. Henry looked up and cawed a couple of times. Instantly the bird flew off, away from the battle field, but Henry stayed in place. "You're staying?"

"Well, yeah! I want to join your _caws_," he cut himself off when he saw the hard, unimpressed glare Chrom was giving him. "I mean, I can help you! I know magic!" He took out an Elfire tome as proof. "What do you say… birds of a feather killed the cat or something of the like?"

The battle broke out around the two as soon as the birds were gone. Cherche and Minerva mowed down their Snipers and Archers from the east while Tybalt and Falkor did the same from the west. Donnel and Stahl were whooping while the latter's horse moved in a figure eight around the abandoned fortresses. Sully was pretty much doing the same thing, just headed in the opposite direction with an unenthusiastic Tharja paired up with her. Overhead, Cordelia hurdled a javelin at a Risen who was about to get the jump on Gaius.

Liam had found himself back to back with Priam. An axe-wielding Risen was met with an arrow to the back of the head by Vaike. Elaine had readjusted her grip on her axe before she swung it forward. She had successfully removed the head of one of the Fighter Risen. She murmured a brief, 'rest now' to her fallen enemy. It was a habit she had picked up from Libra, the one who taught her how to hold her axe properly. Elaine had to jump when she saw a Risen fly into the air, Panne, transformed, had just used her strong legs to send the corpse flying upward, where it was properly finished off by Anali's Arcthunder spell. Their tactician was seated upon her black pegasus finishing off Risen with an overhead spell. Frederick, the nameless assassin, and Lissa were keeping Chrom and Henry safe while they conversed.

"You're a Plegian dark mage, yes?" Chrom asked him, his biasness surfaced in a moment of irritation. "Why would you help us?"

"Oh, don't let all this joking around fool ya," Henry said with his arms crossed over his chest and a proud smirk on his face. "I've kinda got a thing for killing. Most funny people do, you know. And I figure with your lot I could _caws_ quite a stir!"

Chrom had to rub his temple at that one. He could enjoy a good play on words as much as the next person… when the time was right. This… this crisis right now… was not the time. But the Shepherds could always use another set of hands. If this boy was willing, who was Chrom to turn him away… given he was civil with the others. "All right, fine," Chrom said, lowering his hand. "Welcome aboard."

Lissa was smirking to herself while she cast Elwind after Elwind at the opposing Risen. And now, as soon as her brother and the Dark Mage joined the fray she didn't have to worry about keeping his butt safe. The young man who arrived with the flurry of crows remained with them however, and he started to mow through the Risen using both Flux and Elfire tomes. How could he hit his target so well if he never opened his eyes?

She felt someone's arm push against her back, forcing her forward. She stumbled slightly and heard a dull _thunk_, followed by someone's strained breathing, and finally a _thud_. Immediately Lissa turned around to find the masked assassin on the ground with an arrow firmly planted at his collar bone. The man started twitching, and his breathing became labored. Her compassion took over, Lissa dropped her tome and knelt down at the assassin's side. "I'm going to take the arrow out," she told him.

The man managed to nod in acknowledgement, or at least it _looked_ like a nod. Biting her lower lip, Lissa grasped the arrow and pulled. The man tried to keep himself from yelling, he tried to keep himself from thrashing and for the most part, he was successful. There had been grown men who handled it worse than him. When the arrow was out, Lissa observed the tip of it. There was a shiny substance that coated it, Lissa dabbed her finger on to the tip. It had to be some kind of poison.

She realized that the man had fallen limp, and the arrow was forgotten. In a flash, Gaius was in front of the two, taking out an oncoming Risen. "You all right, Lissa?" he asked her.

"Cover us," Lissa said while her fingers worked to remove the man's mask. "And if you can, spread the word that their arrows might be poisoned."

Chrom was half-jogging towards the bridge, his eyes locked on the sky where Amalthea was steadily lowering. By the time she was low enough to kick him in the face if she wanted, Anali offered her hand to Chrom. He took it instantly and they pulled him up behind her. "You know where the Chief is?" Anali asked as Amalthea started to fly higher.

"He said it should be at the bridge," Chrom said pointing to the old, wooden bridge in question. Beyond the bridge the remains of the reservoir steadily became narrow until it lead to the nearby river.

Nodding, Anali nudged Amalthea with her heels, urging the mare forward. As soon as they were hovering above the bridge where the largest Risen stood with an axe draped over it's shoulder, Chrom jumped off Amalthea. An arrow whizzed pass Anali, it didn't hit, but it was close enough to spook Amalthea. The pegasus took off in a blind panic while her rider tried to calm her down. Chrom wasn't given the chance to worry for his wife due to the Risen hurtling his axe in Chrom's direction.

Sword drawn, he ran for the Risen Chief. If that man in the mask had been lying to him about taking out the Chief… Well if he was they would take care of _him_ later. One problem at a time.

Chrom sliced this sword through the Chief's solar plexus, black ooze began to seep out. The Chief dove for his fallen axe, leaving them on the opposite ends of where they started. Chrom looked up to see a familiar young woman with long blue hair carrying the sword identical to his. Their eyes met for just a moment, when Chrom felt something slam into his back, causing him to see stars. When he opened his eyes he was flat on the ground.

"Father!" shouted Marth.

Wait… _what?!_

Marth's sword swished through the air before she plunged it into the Risen's neck. The Chief froze for a moment then dropped his arms at his side before he vanished in a puff of black haze. There was a moment on the battle field where the remaining Risen looked around confused. Then they disappeared like their Chief, one after the other like a line of toppled dominos.

Chrom got to his feet and slid Falchion back into it's sheath. He heard Marth do the same with her own blade. "Thank goodness I was close by," he heard her say.

"You called me 'father,'" Chrom said as he turned around.

Marth's face paled for a moment. "D-did I?" she asked, replaying the past three minutes in her mind. She bit her lower lip when she realized that, yes, she did. "I-I…" She cleared her throat. "Perhaps we might speak privately?"

"Perhaps we should."

* * *

Dawn was beginning to peek out over the horizon, the sky was a warm shade of lavender, with warmer colors still to come. Marth lead the way to the river, close enough to the campsite, but secluded enough for them to speak without interruption. Chrom could see how nervous Marth looked, her hands had a slight tremor to them, and she wouldn't stop moving her hair behind her ears. "I…" she began, "I'm not even sure how to begin."

"I already figured out that Marth isn't you're real name, though I've nothing else to call you," Chrom said gently. "But I'll ask nothing of you that you're not comfortable with revealing. Whoever you are, Ylisse owes you a debt beyond repaying."

"Thank you, but… I think I would prefer you know the truth. Look closely, then you'll understand."

Marth could feel her heart pounding in her chest the moment she said those words. But she couldn't back out now; this was the perfect time to show them. She took a deep breath, then approached Chrom. Marth stood within arms length; she kept her eyes straight at him and waited for the pieces to fall into place.

Chrom wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for. She looked the same as when he had last seen her two years ago. Granted he was used to seeing her with short hair and the butterfly mask that hid her eyes from the world.

And then he saw it.

The Brand in her left eye. Proof that she was of exalted bloodline. It was in the same place as… as…

"Lucina…" Chrom murmured in realization.

He could see it now, the blue in her eyes, in her hair, her Falchion. But there was a bit of her mother in her too, she had Anali's mouth and jaw line, as well as her sharp eyes. Somehow, his daughter, his _infant_ daughter who wasn't even two months old yet, was standing right in front of him as a woman.

She knew about the attack on Emmeryn's life that night because, presumably, they had succeeded in her lifetime. She knew that the world was on the edge of calamity because she must have _lived_ it.

Chrom lowered his gaze, his eyes fell upon the sword she kept in it's sheath. The Falchion couldn't be replicated that easily… and it wasn't. "You deserved better from me than one sword and a world of troubles," said Chrom. "I'm sorry."

Lucina felt her throat tighten and her breathing hitch. She wasn't even aware of the tears that fell out of her eyes until Chrom reached up to dry her left eye. She forgot herself for a moment, when was the last time she had received such kindness and affection? New tears started to prickle out of her eyes. "Father!" Lucina cried, half-sobbing. She ran into his arms, crying into his chest.

Chrom remained silent as he ran one hand through Lucina's hair. This answered quite a few questions, but raised just as many. All he knew was that his daughter was right here, and she was crying.

Neither of them were sure of how much time had passed before Lucina started to calm down. She stepped away from Chrom trying to dry her red-rimmed eyes. Her face was red and blotchy, and her bangs were a bit of a mess. "Better, Lucina?" he asked.

"Yes, Father," she said. Her voice was a little hoarse but she seemed to ignore it. "I'm sorry… it just rushed back at once."

"Father…" Chrom repeated with a tired smile.

Lucina froze. "Should I call you something else?"

"No. I just wasn't expecting to hear it from you for another year or so… I like it."

She brought a hand up to her mouth. "Father!" she giggled.

Chrom had to chuckle. "Yes, it will take some getting used to."

"Chrom?"

In unison they turned to find Anali a few meters away. She was hugging herself, still a little jumpy from the wild ride Amalthea gave her. Even after the Risen had disappeared she needed Sumia's help to calm her down. Well, there was that and everything else that happened within the last twelve hours.

"Oh," Chrom breathed out at the sight of his wife. "What is it, Anali?"

"It's just that…" her hands gripped her arms tighter, "you two are out here alone, and Marth's been… crying." Anali list her head to the side while she kept one finger erect. "This is generally how ill rumors are born."

Anali was trying to make a joke out of it. To show Chrom that she was okay after everything that went on last night. She wasn't, with or without Amalthea getting spooked she would probably still feel jittery, and she would have to look over her shoulder every fifteen minutes.

She still didn't know what to make of it all. The doppelganger. Validar. If Validar was her father, than what did that mean for her mother? How did Anali end up outside of Elrond miles away from the border? Why couldn't she remember anything?

"And…" Anali continued, "two out of the three times Marth's appeared _something_ happens. If that's the case this time isn't it something I should know about?"

Chrom peered at Lucina. "Can we tell her?"

His daughter nodded. Her hands started to tremble again as her nerves took hold. "Of course."

"Tell me what?" asked Anali.

"Anali," Chrom approached her, and held her hand, "this is going to come as a shock, but… I'll just say it." He turned his wife to the blue haired woman before them. "This is our daughter."

Anali's head snapped up to look at him. "What?!" she gasped.

Chrom knew that what he was telling her sounded crazy. Utterly bonkers. In fact Chrom was still trying to wrap his head around it. "It's true, Anali," Lucina said quickly as she walked closer to her. "Please, look closely. Prove it with your own eyes by looking into mine."

He knew she had seen it the moment Anali's hand slapped over her mouth. The undeniable proof that this woman and their baby were one and the same. "Right where…" Anali said breathily, "right where Lucina's is…"

"Do you see now?" Chrom asked her.

"I… I can't say that I do." Anali looked up at Chrom while she gestured to the woman at their side. "If this is Lucina, _right here _in front of us, then what's happened to our baby back home?"

"Nothing," Chrom said cupping her face with one hand. "She's fine."

"Your baby is right where you left her," Lucina assured her, "and perfectly safe." She gestured to herself. "I am her from a time that has yet to be."

"The… future?" Anali questioned. Several of her dreams came back to her at once. No… It couldn't be?

"Yes," Lucina nodded, "more than fifteen years hence. After history takes a dark and destructive turn for the worst…"

"What happened?" Chrom asked. He wasn't sure how he felt about asking this of Lucina. She obviously lived through it all, and it's obvious that he had died years ago. And it was painfully obvious that whatever era Lucina had come from was nothing short of a living hell.

"The fell dragon, Grima is resurrected," Lucina explained. "His roar is a death knell for humanity, a scream that silences all hope… Death is everywhere…"

Anali's first thought was the dream where Risen had pretty much taken over. Where she always found Lucina and other Ylissean soldier's in battle in the hall. And how Lucina was met with a behemoth Anali could never see. The name of that force repeated itself over and over in her head.

She held onto Chrom's hand so tight her knuckles had turned white. "I…" Anali shook her head slightly, "I don't know what to say."

"A tale that beggars believe," said Chrom looking down at his wife, "and yet the truth of it stands before us. She carries Falchion, my same sword."

"Your blade and mine are one, Father. It was…" Lucina said her hand gripped onto the hilt. "It was all I had left of you."

"There's only one Falchion, Anali," Chrom said, holding her close to him. "I believe her."

"I… I still don't understand how this is possible," murmured Anali.

"Naga," Lucina explained, "the divine dragon, feared mankind would face Grima again after he was slain by Exalt Orev. In preparation for that day, Naga devised a ritual. It allows one to return to the past and alter events already written. I made the journey together with others, but…" she sighed, "we were separated along the way."

"There are others?" Chrom asked.

Lucina nodded. "All of them are children of your Shepherds. I've been searching for them since Gangrel met his end but there's only so much I can do on my own."

"We'll find them," Chrom assured her. "After we've dealt with the Valmese warships we can try looking for them."

Lucina smiled slightly. Her eyes fell upon Anali, who had remained silent for a while now. Anali still couldn't believe it. That woman in her dreams… the swordfighter who helped them so often… "This whole time…" Anali said pushing her bangs out of her eyes, "you were my daughter… this whole time…"

"Yes, Anali," Lucina said quietly.

"You've grown into such a strong and beautiful woman," Anali said with a smile. "Chrom and I are truly blessed."

A blush appeared on Lucina's face. She started to play with her hair bashfully. "Thank you…" she murmured, then quickly added, "milady."

Anali's smiled died. "Will you not call me Mother?" she asked.

"I… thought you would mind."

"Why would I?" Anali asked giving her child a warm smile. "I love you with all my heart."

New tears started to spill out of Lucina's eyes. "Mother…" Lucina choked out.

Anali held her arms out, allowing Lucina to hurry into them. Lucina buried her head in the crook of Anali's neck while she held onto her mother, afraid of letting go. Anali, on the other hand buried her nose in her daughter's hair. When they were like this, it was easy to see that Lucina had gotten her height from her mother, so she stood a good head shorter than Chrom.

Lucina's shoulder's shook in her attempt to keep herself under control. She had wanted to just run into her parents arms since she arrived in this era. Even if Lucina had plans to reveal her identity to them, that night would have been too soon. So she waited for two years. "You're my hero, Lucina," Anali said with a slight crack in her voice.

Lucina's hands gripped Anali tighter and a sob escaped her throat. Her mother wouldn't have said that if she knew what Lucina had failed to do. "Mother…" she sobbed, "I've missed you more than you'll ever know…"

* * *

By the time Lucina had calmed down the sun had fully risen. She tried to clean herself up and rid herself of the evidence of her tears. Chrom had suggested they introduce Lucina to Lissa and Gaius first before the explained they situation to the Shepherds. It was going to be quite the experience, no doubt.

"_There_ you are," Frederick said, approaching the trio when they finally returned to camp. He eyed Lucina briefly but turned his attention back to Chrom Anali. "We've been looking for you. Our secretive… ally was struck down. Lissa's been caring for him but… I think you should see for yourself."

Frederick lead them to the infirmary tent where some of the Shepherds were still getting patched up after the battle. One of the cots, however was being occupied. Lissa hovered over the person, changing bandages over their wounds while they were sleeping. "Where've you been?" Lissa asked when she saw her brother and his wife. "Frederick started acting weird when he saw this guy. You know him or something? Oh, hey, Marth's back? I hope you stick around this time."

Lucina smiled. "I plan to, Aunt Lissa."

"Gre- Wait, what'd you call me?!"

Both Chrom and Anali stared at Lissa's patient. It was clear that this was the same masked assassin who had warned them of the oncoming attack. And without the mask and his cowl they finally had a clear view of his face. His skin was brown and his hair was white. While his eyes were closed they could instantly recognize him as they had just seen him a few hours ago.

It was Arun, Validar's captain of the guard.

A hand slapped itself over Anali's mouth when the realization hit her. Validar said that Arun was his son. So, in light of recent events didn't that, logically, make him her brother?

* * *

**Authors Note:** Dun. Dun. Duuun!

I'm curious, did anyone actually remember that a masked Plegian assassin was a thing in this story? Cause I kinda forgot about him a couple of times. And I _wrote_ the damn thing! That's not to say I didn't remember Arun, I just tended to forget that he technically made an appearance before with the mask on. I'm sure some are curious about Arun, but I'll have more to say about him later. However, to answer one question I'm sure I'm going to be asked; no, he doesn't know the truth about Aversa. I will also say that he's basically my male Avatar the same way Anali is.

Guys… *removes glasses and rubs temples* The scene where Chrom introduces his wife to Lucina drives me fucking _**crazy**_ when he's married to anyone but the Avatar or maiden. They tried to make a scene funny when it _wasn't called for_. It's out of character for all of them. It tells me that Sumia, Sully, Maribelle and Olivia don't trust their husband. And why the fuck does the F!Avatar have to be the _**only one **_to calmly let them explain what's going on instead jumping to conclusions like the others?! I am Sideshow Bob, and that scene is my yard of rakes!

(And please note, I did not once say anything about the 'poor man,' and only mentioned that I feel like the scene does a disservice to the girls characters. It's all about the ladies, _hardly_ about the man.)

Henry tends to get the short end of the stick whenever I play. Not because I dislike him, but because he's the last first-gen unit who can marry someone other than the avatar. So by the time Henry's recruited everyone's either already married or on their way to an S-support. But then I realized what his solo ending implied and then I noped. I noped so much.

I'm kind of afraid of coming off like I'm holding everyone's hand by saying this, but just incase my intention's weren't clear. The bit with Validar… I get that in the game Validar was either there in person or using some sort of magic-thingy to communicate with the Avatar. But at one point while I was replaying the game I started to wonder how the scene could've played if it was actually one of the hierophant's _memories_ rather than some form of communication. Which is the angle I was going for in here.

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	30. Chapter Thirty

**Chapter Thirty  
Blue and Red**

The hierophant paced back and forth in her personal chambers. It was the largest and finest Validar had to offer, no doubt where _she_ would have slept growing up had things gone according to plan. There was a large, plush canopy bed where the hierophant rested, she never _slept_. The vanity mirror by the wall had been shattered in hierophant's fit of anxiousness. Her favorite Risen stood by the door like a vigilant, soulless guard. It wasn't _that_ far from the truth.

It had worked, they brought the brat princess out, and she with their group now. But she also had knowledge of the world's future, even if some of it was omitted to spare her delicate feelings. The hierophant knew that everything was running smoothly, just let them fight their silly war and things would take care of itself. She just needed to play her cards right.

Loath as she was to admit it, the hierophant was helpless at the moment. Unable to change into her true form, unable use her abilities to their full potential. Not yet, anyway. She probably wouldn't be as anxious as she was if she was in a form she was comfortable with. If she had the power she was used to…

There was a knock at the door, it was only then when her Risen turned it's head. Validar walked in while the hierophant was still pacing. "This had better be good," she snapped.

"I regret to tell you, Master," Validar said stiffly, "it would appear that Arun has betrayed us to the Ylissean's. One of our Risen managed to strike him down, but it looks like he will be making a full recovery."

The hierophant rolled her eyes. "You're honestly _surprised_, Validar?" she asked him. "I always figured you were just letting him do whatever he wanted, that's what _I_ was doing."

Validar stiffened his back. Yes, he was aware to a point that Arun was leaking information to the Ylisseans out of spite, even if they already figured it out for themselves. It was only a matter of time before he started working with them. "Is that all?" the hierophant asked.

"I wanted to inform you that our spies are watching the Exalt's army closely," said Validar. "We've received word that they'll be returning to Port Ferox soon."

"Great. Wonderful. Is the brat princess still with them?"

"Yes, Master."

"So _why_ are you bothering me?! I don't want to hear anything unless they're back in Plegia with the gemstones!"

"Yes, Master," Validar said quickly. "You are right, forgive me for troubling you with something so trivial."

Without another word he glided out the room. The hierophant shook her head, that man gave himself way too much credit sometimes. Alone, if one did not count her Risen, the hierophant ran a hand through her hair. "I tire of this flimsy body," she said out loud. She studied her hands for a moment, then she flexed her fingers twice. "Humanity is so… _boring_."

She strolled up to her Risen, the one that kept her safe whenever she was in this human form, and the one that offed most of the Shepherds after Grima was resurrected when she herself didn't do it personal. The hierophant just _loved_ the irony, and she loved that it continued to break _her_. "I might even have you take out the brat princess," the hierophant said, lacing her arms around her Risen's neck. "That has such potential, don't you think?"

Her Risen didn't say anything, he hadn't spoken in over ten years. He hadn't had a will of his own in over ten years either, after all the dead had no will. They had no soul, no sense of morality, no different than a puppet following its puppeteer. Her Risen still had some resemblance to himself in life, even if most of his face was covered by his collar, and his blue bangs obscuring the blue glow of his eyes. His armor was an improvement on his clothing in life, just barely.

The hierophant's eyes glossed over, tears welled up in the corner of her eyes. She stepped back with her hands clasped over her mouth. Horror was written on her face and the tears had started to stream down her face.

Gritting her teeth, the hierophant covered her eyes with one hand. A moment of silence went by before her lips tugged back into a tooth-bearing grin. Her shoulders slowly shook before the hierophant threw her head back and laughed. "Ah…" she breathed out wiping her eyes free of any tears, "I will admit, human's do have their merits. They're so… _fun_ to play with!"

* * *

Lissa knew something was up when Chrom asked Frederick for a bit of privacy, and then to speak with both Lissa _and_ Gaius. It struck her as a little odd that Chrom wanted to speak with the both of them. Yes, Lissa would marry Gaius one day, and in all technicality that would make him a prince, but Gaius wouldn't have that much power when he became her husband. Heck, if Anali wasn't Chrom's chief tactician she probably wouldn't have any power either. However, Lissa was going to learn pretty quickly that they wouldn't be discussing anything war-related, not really. No, it was more of a _family_ affair.

Marth had called her 'Aunt Lissa' because 'Marth' was in actuality the future version of her little niece. Lissa was pretty sure she got the basic idea of Lucina's story, how eighteen years from now - though it was twenty years for Lucina, if one counter her time in the present - the world is on the brink of utter destruction. So, Lucina and a group of friends traveled back in time to prevent the end of the world. She understood all that, but Lissa found it unnerving to think that just about everyone in their campaign today had all died in Lucina's era. The worse part was that Lissa herself was the sole survivor until a few years ago, at least that was what Lucina had said. "Our plan," Chrom said at the end of the story, "is to search for Lucina's comrades after we've dealt with the war fleet."

"Is that a good idea, Blue?" Gaius asked. He was silent thought Lucina's story with his arms crossed over his chest. From the outside perspective, he took it all as stoically as possible. "Even if we can bring down the Valmese fleet, that doesn't solve the problem."

Lucina bit her lower lip and looked down at her hands. "Uncle Gaius has a point," she said. "Shouldn't we bring and end to the Conqueror's reign first?"

The ginger haired thief blushed instantly when he heard 'Uncle Gaius.' Yes, he played with the baby when Lissa held her, but Gaius never actually held the child himself despite Lissa and Anali's protest. "Come _on_," Lissa told him shortly after baby Lucina was born. She had offered the child to him in further protest. "She's _your _niece, too!"

"Technically, she isn't _yet_," Gaius countered.

One could call him a worry wart, but Gaius knew full well how delicate a baby as young a little Lucina was. Which was why he had yet to hold her; pure nervousness had gotten the better of him. And there was the fact that it all seemed too good to be true. Another drawback in his profession. If life was this good; an amazing, adorable woman who loved him like he loved her, a beautiful little girl who would look to her as an uncle, heck even one of his past actions helped bring down the person who tried to screw someone over, then it probably wasn't going to last.

It wasn't that Gaius doubted his feelings, or Lissa's feelings. It wasn't as though he doubted Chrom and Anali. It wasn't as though he doubted how they could all handle the council. And it wasn't as though he doubted Twinkles trust in him now. It was just… well, karma was simply a bitch. He hoped that he could let the barriers down before they walked down the aisle. He hoped that he wouldn't feel like had to look over his shoulder constantly out of fear of someone taking everything he had.

And there was the simple fact that 'Uncle Gaius' made him sound like an old man.

Gaius was brought out of his stupor when Lissa wrapped her arms around him and squealed in delight. As far as she was concerned their future was crystal clear.

"Well," Anali said jiggling one leg while she sat down, "if we can take out the fleet that will make a huge dent in Walhart's army. He's expecting them to just sail into Ferox and lay waste to the land until we comply. We might have a bit of time to search for your friends before another attack."

"Granted," Chrom said with a list of the head, "it would be easier if we knew where they are."

"I do have an idea of where _one of them _could be," Lucina said while fiddling with her thumbs. "Just him though."

"Oh!" Lissa exclaimed, finally releasing Gaius. She was practically bouncing in place as she gestured to herself and her fiance. "Do we have any children?"

Had Gaius had anything in his mouth, he may had started choking on it. Wasn't it a bit early to be thinking about _that_? They weren't even married, yet! "You have a son named Owain," Lucina said with a smile.

"Aw, cute! What's he like?"

"Shouldn't we wait?" Gaius asked her. He hooked a finger in his collar and pulled at it nervously. "Keep it a surprise and all that."

"Well, I can't wait _now_," Lissa countered. She looked back at Lucina. "So, what's he like?"

"He's…" Lucina's head tilted to the side. She tried to avoid her aunt and uncle's gaze. "_Colorful_."

"Meaning…?" Gaius drawled.

Lissa's bravado died in almost an instant. She started to fiddle with her apron, and bit her lower lip. "D-does," she said, much quieter than before, "does he have…" Lucina tilted her head slightly, silently asking her aunt to continue. "You know what?" Lissa suddenly shot onto her feet. "I should really check up on Arun. Gotta make sure he's okay to travel."

The Cleric marched away from the group, and into the medical tent. Chrom held back a sigh, knowing full well what Lissa wanted to ask. But he wouldn't bring it up. If Lissa didn't want to talk about it, then the matter was dropped. "Well," Chrom breathed out, "with that out of the way, we should inform the Shepherds now. Once everyone's injuries have been taken care of we'll leave before we experience another Risen attack."

Anali had been unable to sit still throughout their talk with Lissa and Gaius. Her thoughts went back to Arun. Assuming Validar was telling the truth when he introduced Arun, then Anali had a _biological_ brother. Some of the answers she was looking for was right within her grasp, but he was currently out of it due to taking a poisoned arrow for Lissa. "Mother?" Lucina asked, eyeing Anali's anxious form. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes," Anali replied instantly, "no… I don't know. The last few hours have been rather… trying."

"And it… shows," Lucina said with a brief list of her head.

"Lucina's right," Chrom said placing a hand on his wife's shoulders, "you look exhausted. Why don't you at least try to get a bit of sleep while we travel back to Port Ferox."

Anali argued, "I can't do that! What kind of tactician slouches off while everyone else is working?"

"One who's making sure she's in top form for the next battle should we have a surprise attack."

The tactician crossed her arms somewhat childishly, and turned her head away from Chrom. The fact was that Anali didn't _want_ to sleep again. She didn't _want_ to experience another dream.

But now she had to keep both Chrom and Lucina from worrying about her. And her head was pounding right now. Even if she didn't want to sleep and experience more nightmares, she _needed_ sleep. But… "You heard what Validar said about Arun," Anali said, already she could tell that her argument wasn't going to hold much water. "If he was being honest, then-"

Instantly, Chrom turned himself slightly to get a look at Lucina. "Lucina, this is going to sound odd," he said, "but was there any family from your mother's side?"

Solemnly, Lucina shook her head. "Not outside of Aunt Flavia," she explained. "Even then, I always knew that it wasn't biological. Why? What about this Arun?"

"We're not entirely sure. We can't clear up a few things for a while." Chrom looked back at Anali. "Which mean's there's nothing we can do about it right now."

Anali's head bowed slightly while she thought. "Stop being right all the time," she murmured.

As promised, Chrom called an emergency meeting and with Lucina, they explained everything they could to the. How Lucina was the very same as their little princess, just twenty years from now. How she, along with a number of comrades returned to the past to prevent the apocalypse her world had become. How they would search for Lucina's friends after the matter at hand with the naval fleet. And how her friends were the children of the Shepherds.

That last tidbit had gotten the women chatting amongst themselves, most of them, especially those amongst the Shepherds engaged and married, were curious about their possible child. Nowi in particular was curious as she wasn't sure she _could_ have children with Libra.

Anna, however, wasn't all that interested. She didn't mind children, they were fun to have around, but having children meant spending money for eighteen or so years. Of course having kids meant more helping hands which meant more money… So there were some benefits of children. She supposed it all depended on the man and how Anna felt about him, and the timing.

She tightened the dressing around Liam's knee. "That's tight, that's tight!" he complained

"Oh, stop whining," Anna said, very tempted to slap him across the knee to prove a point. But she decided to be nice about it. "You could try to be more careful, you know. Isn't your wife expecting? Gotta keep yourself in one piece for that kid."

"You're not telling me anything I don't already know," Liam said. He swung his injured leg away from Anna and pulled her boot back on.

"You know, there's a chance your kid probably came back with Lucina," Anna pointed out. She saw Liam freeze in place as he thought about the possibility.

"You think so?" he asked.

"Well, as of right now you _are_ the only one expecting."

Shaking his head, Liam started lacing his book again. "Honestly, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it," he murmured.

"The fact that you're going to have a child, or the whole future thing?"

"Both."

With his boot secure, Liam held his head in his hands for a moment. It seemed like he and Lazuli had just gotten their own place when they discovered her pregnancy. What did Liam known about children? Not wanting to hold up Anna's patients he limped off to wait for their next instruction.

"Don't forget what I said," Anna called with one hand cupped over her mouth. "No strenuous activity for three to four days. I mean you _do_ want that knee to heal properly, right?"

"Whatever."

Absently, Anna began to fiddle with the teddy bear trinket on the hilt of her blade. Anna thought while ago that she could charge the Shepherds every time she healed them. But Anna had gotten free homing and meals - essentially - so Anna could loose a few hundred gold suns to heal her comrades for free.

"Okay," she said almost as though she were thinking out loud. "Anyone else, or can we close up shop?"

Right on cue, Priam took a seat in the chair in front of her. His armor had already been discarded, and Priam was currently busying himself by taking off his black, formfitting tunic. He didn't have a new injury for Anna to take care of, but he ruptured the wound he sustained in Port Ferox. "Ah, back already," Anna said half-teasingly. "Miss me?"

"You were the only one open," Priam said bluntly.

"You couldn't have just lied to make me feel special?" Anna asked, getting a wet rag out of the bowl at her feet.

"Why lie when you should be able to work for it?"

"Hey, you come from a family that's just a sea of girls with your face and name you'll take what you can." Priam flinched, the wet cloth had grazed against his reopened wound. "And that's what you get when you don't listen to the doctor's orders," she added.

"And go easy on the assholes trying to kill us?" Priam asked with a taste of venom in his tone. "I'd sooner inject poison into my own veins."

"You sure about that? I think your own injuries will kill you before the poison does."

A few moments later Anna fetched a mug of vodka for him. There was a slight problem in that Priam really wasn't much of a drinker, said the stuff clouded his thoughts, therefore he wasn't as strong as he should be. Anna had to force it down his throat before she could even start sewing the wound closed. "I can use my stave on it twice a day for you," said Anna, her focused was locked on Priam's shoulder. "But until I, or someone says otherwise take. It Easy."

She poked Priam in his injured shoulder with each word to drive her point across. She was careful not actually hit the wound itself, but it was still close enough for Priam to feel _something_. Priam clearly looked angry after the last poke, lucky for him Anna had finished and made her point. She finished sewing the wound shut and proceeded to dress his shoulder. "Just take it easy next time," Anna said collecting her supplies.

"I can't make any promises," Prima said while he put his tunic on. "But, fact is I don't want to have to drink that again."

He gestured to the bottle of vodka in Anna's arms. The Trickster took the bottle into her hand and pointed the neck at him. "In the end you're glad I made you drink it," she said. "Would've been a nightmare without it."

The Secret Seller took care of her supplies, leaving Priam alone to put his tunic back on with a little struggle. He wasn't quite sure what possessed him to go to Anna to take care of his shoulder. The War Monk probably would have given him less lip than Anna. Better still, he would have gotten even less lip from Chrom's sister, or Sir Frederick's wife. Perhaps it was because she was the one who took care of the injury the first time. In the end, it left Priam feeling a little flustered.

The notion of children from the future both intrigued Panne and filled her with utter fear. She did welcome the idea of having children herself, they would not be pure taguel, but it would not matter. What terrified Panne was the fact that her life would no longer belong to her. After a lifetime alone the thought of caring for another was overwhelming.

She turned the corner around the medical tents and was met with the sellsword she was searching for. "Gregor," Panne said in the best commanding tone she could muster. "Just what were you doing in that battle?"

Her eyes fell upon Gregor's dominate arm. The leather guard had been removed, and his sleeve was rolled up to his elbow. Gregor's forearm had a cloth bandage wrapped tight around it with a slight pink tint on the white fabric. The fool had guarded her from an oncoming axe, the blade broke through Gregor's guard and sleeve. It went in so deep Panne was legitimately surprised that the bone had not broken at least. It could taken his hand off.

"Gregor just keeping comrade safe," the sellsword said with his good hand held out in front of him. "What else can Gregor be doing? You are Gregor's comrade, so naturally Gregor cannot stand in idleness while you are skewed into rabbit meats."

_Just a comrade?_ Panne found herself thinking in disappointment. Why should she care if he viewed her as such? Yes, Panne was perfectly okay calling these humans friends but that was all it was.

"So you use your own arm to block an axe?" Panne asked angrily. "You're lucky your arm isn't broken! Or _worse_!"

Gregor's brow rose. "So you have worry for Gregor's well-being, yes?" he asked playfully. "You are noticing his wound of gapingness?"

Panne's arms felt stiff and her face was warm. "Gregor can stick his head in a dragon's maw for all I care," she hissed through her teeth.

She turned on her heel and took several steady strides. She heard the grass rustle behind her. Gregor yelled out pain. "Gregor's wound!" he shouted. "The stitches, they tear open!"

Panic spread through her like a wildfire. Panne was at his side in an instant. "Where? Are you bleeding? Let me see…" she took his arm into her hands. The bandage was still in place and was dry as a bone. "Everything…. Everything looks fine… You're _fine_!"

If only the glare she was giving him was enough to incinerate him on the spot. Instead Panne could only settle for punching him in the shoulder heard enough that he was thrown onto the ground. Gregor, however, did not seem to mind given how hard he was laughing. "Gregor only makes jape!" he said as he stood back up.

"Do that again and I'll give you a real wound to worry about!" Panne threatened with her teeth bared.

"Ah, yes, yes!" Gregor chanted clapping his hands together as gently at possible. "Now do again with more anger."

Her brow knitted together. "What?" she asked dully.

"Panne must learn to express feelings more," he said with a finger erect. "Is first step to intimacy. Holding anger inside and never learning to forgive? Very bad. Is reason why Panne has few friends."

Panne's brow knitted together again. Few friends? Wasn't the friends she had now enough? "I have no idea what you are talking about," she said dully.

"Is, how to say…" Gregor thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "Baby steps!"

The taguel just shook her head and walked off. What did she need to express herself for? Panne handled her life just fine as it was.

Virion poured the tea into the waiting cups. Most of the tents had been dismantled and put away, as were the supplies. But they were still waiting for the injured to be patched up. The Risen attack had left them all beaten to a point. Virion was one of the few who managed to get out with a few scratches and bruises. He, along with Cherche, figured that the least they could do was brew a bit of tea for anyone who wanted a cup.

The self-proclaimed archeriest of archers was notably distracted. As much as he understood that they needed these Plegian ships if they had any hope of counter Walhart's fleet. And he, of all people, knew that they were in the good hands of Anali. It was simply the fact that he did not know what the state of Roseanne was currently in that bothered him. "I do wish I knew what was happening in our homeland right now," he said wistfully as he placed the teapot down.

"The sooner we win this war, the sooner we'll find out," Cherche said, being his voice of reason as always.

Virion knitted his brow together in thought. Cherche had no obligation to him now, or when this war was over. When the war had ended and Virion returned to Roseanne the welcome would be anything but warm. While he had good reason, his actions would be labeled as cowardice. No one would blame Cherche for leaving him. "Tell me, Cherche," Virion said, turning to look at her, "what do you intend to do when this war is over?"

"Return home and help rebuild the domains of House Virion," she said cheerfully. The smile she gave him was one Virion had seen more times than he could count over the years. But this time Virion felt like he was seeing her for the first time. Partially because he had not seen that smile for over two years. "I assume your plan is much the same?"

"Yes, of course," Virion said trying to sound as casual as possible. He place a hand on his chest dramatically. "My domains shall have great need of me."

"Are you sure you can handle going back?" Cherche asked quietly. "The broken landscape will have many painful memories carved into it."

"True," Virion replied with a slight sigh. "But it is also filled with many joyous memories as well." He smiled warmly at the tea pot, fully aware of the flutter in his chest. "Many of which involve you." He glanced over his shoulder. "You'll scoff, no doubt, but the happiest moments of my life have been spent in your company."

He could almost feel the playful pout Cherche was giving him. What he didn't see was the blush on her face. "Come now, Ari," she said. "You know I'm not one of your dizzy maids who falls for _that_ flatter."

Exasperated, Virion's eyes rolled up skyward. "Why is it whenever I speak from the heart, no one believes me?" he asked, turning to look at Cherche. "Is this the price I must pay for my flippant yet debonair charm?"

"I think we just know each other too well to speak of such emotional matters," she said playfully.

Virion's lips pursed together. Cherche was often his voice of reason, which meant that she was right most of the time. It still hurt a little, given how close Virion was to admitting his true and honest feelings. "Perhaps you are right."

Maybe next time.

* * *

A day and a-half later they returned to Port Ferox, with word that their ships would arrive early the following day. On top of that if they set sail in the morning they should meet the Valmese fleet in two days. Anali spent the first day riding with Chrom so she could get a little sleep. Lucina was ecstatic to ride Amalthea, who greeted the Pegasus like she was an old friend. "You can ride?" Anali asked with a hint of concern in her tone.

"A little bit, yes," Lucina replied, petting Amalthea on the nuzzle. "Just enough to travel."

"Maybe we can teach you to fight on pegasus-back later," Anali suggested. "Have to get you on horse back first.

"Yes, please!"

True to her word, Lucina was a competent flier. However, when she landed she did mention that her legs felt like pudding. "I'm afraid I haven't ridden in a while," Lucina confessed.

Arun spent the entire trip back to Port Ferox dead asleep. Lissa assured Anali that he should pull through, and had even gotten a second, and third opinion for Elaine and Libra. As much as Anali hated it, she had to wait for her answers.

When they arrived mid-afternoon in Port Ferox Frederick checked everyone into the local in. The innkeeper was ecstatic to be serving Ylissean royalty and his Shepherds. Anything for good publicity. The Khan's were given a brief summary of what happened in Carrion Isle. That included Lucina. Flavia was ecstatic when she met the adult version of her niece. Apparently, even in Lucina's era Flavia adopted Anali.

The Shepherds took advantage of the evening they had by restocking on supplies. Elaine had used the time to get herself a new axe. When she started working at the palace Elaine would never have pictured herself using such a weapon. Even now, it still seemed a little alien, but, if Libra could do it surely Elaine could.

She left the shop with the hilt held in both hands. It was a bit sturdier than the axe she, technically, stole from a fallen bandit over a year and a-half ago. There was something ironic about the idea of her old weapon being something she stole.

Elaine couldn't use magic, not that she lacked the potential but she just couldn't. Not yet, at least. Even after two years Elaine wasn't too keen on the idea of using magic, or becoming a Pegasus Knight herself. It wasn't impossible, which in and of itself wasn't something she could say two years ago. She wasn't up for the idea while she had the choice, but she could see herself adjusting to the roll in the event there wasn't a choice. It was better than two years ago when Gangrel's reign had ended and Regan's death was still fresh to her.

"Ooh, sharp!" Henry's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

She watched, dumbfounded at Henry dragged the tip of his finger over the edge of the newly sharpened blade. "Don't do that!" Elaine gasped.

"Why not?" Henry whined childishly. A speckle of deep red blood swelled on the tip of his finger then slid down the side of his hand.

The healer in her took reign; Elaine used her axe to cut off a piece of her apron. She allowed her ax to clutter to the ground, she grabbed onto Henry's wrist and proceed to dressed his wound. "Aw, come on," Henry continued to whine. "It's just a small cut."

"That could get infected," Elaine argued, tightening the fabric around his finger.

"And what's wrong with that?"

"Seriously? Did you really just say that or did I go insane for a moment?"

"Ehh, I think I've already established that what you find morbid is my cup of tea," said Henry. "Yeah, I think I mentioned before that I've gotta think for killing."

"And you joined the Shepherds to get your fill?" Elaine asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, that or I get to die in the bloodiest way possible," he said casually. "I'm honestly surprised you managed to win back in Carrion Isle. I mean you were outnumbered, and outmatched, we shouldn't have survived, but I'm not really complaining."

All Elaine could do was stare dumbly at him. What? What?! "S-so, you didn't join us to kill people," she said hugging herself, "but rather to be killed?"

"The bloodier, the better!" Henry's smiled was eerily bold. "'Course I'm not in a hurry. You guy's are fun!"

Henry left the Cleric frozen in place with her new axe at her feet. What the heck was that? Oh, Gods on high Henry was something of a mess, wasn't he? And that was putting it mildly. Elaine couldn't just ignore everything Henry had said. But she didn't really know what to do either. The proper thing was to talk to someone else about this. But was this information she should just share with everyone? She really didn't know what to do.

Picking up her axe, Elaine marched straight back to the inn. She decided she would do what her parents always told her to do in a case like this. She would spend the evening praying for guidance. The Gods would point her in the right direction.

If her friends could see her now, Lucina doubted she would ever hear the end of it. She was smiling like an idiot with a skip in her step. She was so happy with the prospect of shopping with her mother. Lucina didn't have that much on her, the clothes on her back, Falchion, her mask - which she never got around to fixing- her locket, her tiara, and a small pouch of money. Everything she could easily carry on her. But, now that she was with the Shepherds, Anali insisted she get something comfortable to sleep in, and have some comforts of personal possessions.

The notion left Lucina in a state of ecstasy. Shopping with her mother was only something she could only dream of in her own era. It wasn't something she was going to pass up. She left the inn with Anali, her own arm wrapped around her mothers. Perhaps she was too old for this sort of behavior… No, there was no 'perhaps' Lucina _was_ too old for this behavior. Gods bless it, she was twenty-one, the same age as her mother, a year younger than her father, she should have been more composed than this.

But, she wasn't. No, the calm, collected Lucina she tried to present herself as Marth was replaced with the seven-year-old whose parents had miraculously just risen from the dead. It was that, and the simple fact that people were traveling around her, without a care in the world. A stark contrast from the environment Lucina grew up in. Even in her earliest memories there was some form of tension, even if she didn't understand what was going on. There was still some tension in Port Ferox, a sure fire sign of the early days of war. The people were enjoyed what could be their last few days of blissful ignorance for a long time.

"So many people," Lucina said in awe, her hand tightened around Anali's arm. "And they all seem so… relaxed."

"Enjoying a moment of peace while it lasts no doubt," Anali murmured. "Which mean's we should probably do the same, ourselves."

She took Lucina's hand into her own and lead her into the nearest clothing emporium. Lucina prated on excitedly about how the two of them looked to be about the same size. And how they could trade clothing one of these days. Anali smiled to herself while Lucina listed off her own hopes for the near future. If Lucina could find some sort of happiness after everything she went though, who was Anali to stomp it out.

Although Lucina was right about one thing, they were about the same size, give or take. Lucina had a bit more muscle mass than Anali did at the moment. And Anali still had a bit of baby weight on her. But it was pretty close. Anali searched through the pre-made garments, there was a small collection of possible draped over her arm for Lucina to try. She was insistent that Lucina wear something comfortable on their slow days "Mother, you should try this on," Lucina said. "Father will just love it!"

Curious, Anali turned herself around and was met with the most peculiar dress. 'Peculiar' was among the kindest things she could say about it. The color's were downright gaudy, they didn't compliment each other at all. The collar was a bright blue fuzzy trim, and a green skirt that was so bright green it almost hurt her eyes to stare into it. And that wasn't even touching upon the giant pink polka dots. It was the perfect example of how not to make a dress. And the real kicker was the fact that Lucina presented the monstrosity as though it were some sacred sword. "Oh… wow, Lucina," Anali said struggling to find he right words. "I've never seen anything so… loud."

"I know!" Lucina said sounding so proud of herself. "Oh! See the polka dots? If you look carefully, you'll se that each one bears of portrait of Aunt Emmeryn!"

_Because that's not creepy!_ Anali thought through her forced smile. That was just what she wanted, to wear a dress that carried likeness of her dead sister-in-law several times.

"You should wear this to dinner," Lucina eagerly suggested, "I imagine Father will just scream when he see's you in this!"

_He'll scream, all right, _Anali added silently. _And he, Lissa, Gaius, and several others would never let either of us forget about it._

"You know, Lucina," Anali said while she fiddled with her hummingbird pendant. "I appreciate the thought, but it's not exactly my style." She gestured to herself. She had left her coat, mantel, and every bit of armor back at the inn. This left only her tunic. "I tend to gravitate towards purple. I'm stubborn mule like that, dear."

It wasn't a complete lie. Anali did gravitate towards purple for casual wear. However, now that Anali thought about she did end up wearing blue a lot in formal attire. But her point still stood. Really anyway she could dissuade Lucina from the dress. "Oh…" Lucina's expression dropped, which made Anali wish the floor would open up and swallow her whole. But, her daughter managed to pick herself up quickly. "Perhaps I'll wear it then?"

_Oh no…_

"Hey!" Anali suddenly shoved the clothes she collected into Lucina's arms. "Why don't you give these a try?"

She took the gaudy dress from Lucina and lead her into one of the changing stalls. Anali had just barely heard a confused 'um…' from Lucina before Anali closed the curtain, separating the two. As soon as Lucina had disappeared Anali leaned back against the wall and ran a hand through her hair. If dodging the issue was going to be her parenting method for the baby Lucina she probably would have been better off raising herself.

No, no she couldn't think like that. The future Lucina had been through a lot and Anali was still getting to know _this_ Lucina. Until last night (had it really been so soon?) Anali had only known her as Marth. Granted she didn't really know her then either, but when Anali was told Lucina's identity it felt like she had become an entirely different person than 'Marth.' And perhaps, in a way, that was the case.

Books were something Chrom was rather indifferent too. But here he was, in a bookshop, searching for something that could cheer up Anali. She was having nightmares again, even though she tried to hide it. Chrom woke up to her crying last night. Try as he might coax her into talking about it Anali was tightlipped about it all. He did think about asking Lucina to get Anali to open up about it, not only did Chrom not want to worry Lucina, Anali may not forgive him for using their daughter to get to her.

Between the hierophant, and the revelation about Validar and Arun, Anali had been quite shaken up. While Lucina did bring a smile to her face, and Chrom was grateful they were spending some time together right now, her presence did nothing to quell Anali's dreams. If Anali wouldn't talk to anyone then perhaps Chrom could find something to put her mind at ease. And he knew Anali enough to know that the best way to do that was through a book. Anything fictional, historic, or anything that recorded old war strategies, those were the sort of book Anali liked. The question was, which one did he go for?

Right now, strategy might have the opposite effect Chrom was going for. There was a chance history would do the same. But then again so couldn't anything fictional, however strategy was not an option. The symbols on one of the spines caught Chrom's attention. He pulled the book off the shelf and smiled nostalgically. It was a story about the Two Kingdoms; an old legend about two feuding kingdom. It was unique because there were two, sometimes three different ways the story played out. The hero would choose one of the kingdoms, or they would choose the other, or they would choose neither.

A knowing, somewhat smug, smirk played upon Chrom's lips. What the bards and scribes didn't know. The Two Kingdoms may have been the very subject Anali needed to put her mind at ease.

* * *

The dress Lucina bought featured an red-orange skirt that complimented her blue hair. And Anali ended up buying something herself after being pressured enough by Lucina. Anali wasn't quite sure how she was talked into that, this shopping trip was for Lucina and her comfort.

They left the shop with Lucina hugging her purchase close to her like a child with a new teddy bear. "It's not much," Anali said through a sigh, "but it is a start."

"It's more than enough to hold me over until the war is over," Lucina said with a bold smile. "Should we head back to the inn? I want to change before dinner, see what father says."

"Yes, we probably-"

"Anything you lovely young maidens like?" a merchant cut her off. The merchant was obviously one of the Secret Sellers, however this Anna was clearly developing grey hair. Smiling, she pointed to Anali's hummingbird necklace. "Might have an earring set to go with that."

"Do you have any gold chains?" Lucina asked immediately. She fished out a circular locket from under her top. "The current chain is wearing thin and I'd hate to lose the pendant without realizing it."

"I might, I might," merchant Anna said. She listed her head to the side, gesturing for Lucina to follow her to the far corner of her stall where she had a small handful of necklace chains on display. "Take your pick."

Anali exhaled through her nose and looked down at the trinkets in front of her. A circular pendant caught her attention. She gingerly took it into her hand for closer inspection. It wasn't any bigger than a copper Star, and looked like it was made of gold. There was dark pink stone embedded in the center, smooth and milky like a pearl. There were green stones above the stone, below it and at its sides creating an X formation out of the negative space. "Like it?" merchant Anna asked, startling Anali slightly. "It's got some magical properties in it."

"Oh, really?" Anali asked as Lucina walked back up to her with a new chain in her hand. "Like what?"

"Like keeping it's wearer safe from a fatal attack."

"_This is not your-your fault…" _

She felt her heart sink for a moment and her breath hitched. "Wh-why would we need something like that?" Anali asked, placing the amulet down. She felt Lucina's questioning glare on her as she fished out five Stars.

Anali bought the amulet anyway. She wasn't quite sure why, or at least that's what she told Lucina. She knew why she bought it, because her dreams would not stop haunting her. Because Anali was fearing for her own mental stability. What sort of a sick, twisted person was she for having such dreams? Anali was just looking for _some_ form of assurance that she would not have to see her dreams come to pass.

In the inn, just before it would be time to sit in the mess hall, Lucina changed into the casual dress. She couldn't remember the last time she wore a skirt like this. Lucina always had to be ready to relocate in her own era, dresses would have just gotten caught in her haste to leave. And then there was all the fighting Lucina had to take part in. Skirts were simply impractical. She explained this much to Anali while her mother pulled her hair back at Lucina's request. "But wouldn't keeping your hair long have caused just as much trouble?" Anali asked, running the brush through strands of blue hair.

Facing the mirror Lucina's eyes glanced up at Anali's reflection. There was a faint blush on her cheeks, but a clear teasing look in her eyes. "Yes, yes, I'm not in a position to talk," Anali replied. She focused back on her work. It was a little odd to see Lucina without her tiara, granted it wasn't as though Lucina wouldn't put it back on. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," said Lucina.

"Why didn't you tell Chrom and me who you were that night? You had the Mark of Naga, proving you were of Exalted bloodline."

Lucina's hands wrapped around the fabric of her skirt. She avoided eye contact with Anali's reflection. "Would either of you have believed me?" she asked in response. "I imagine Father would have just assumed Grandfather was adulterous. It was easier to wait until I was born."

Anali nodded slightly. Chrom did have such a low opinion of Calhoun. Anali wouldn't be surprised if he did come to that conclusion in hindsight. "A-and…" Lucina's voice trailed off for a moment, "would you and Father have married out of love, or out of feelings of obligation? Would knowing you had a daughter before you were married have changed your relationship?"

Anali opened her mouth to argue. Of course knowing who Lucina was wouldn't have changed anything; that was what Anali wanted to say. But it probably would have. Everything would have been forced, Anali could see them both acting coldly distant towards each other because the freedom of choice was robbed from them. It would have lead to a very unhappy home life for baby Lucina. "It was better I told you when I did," said Lucina. "I was there."

"You were where?" Anali asked tying the ribbon about Lucina's hair.

"In the crowd, on your wedding day," she said with a slight smile. "After the ceremony. Granted I would have preferred to see the ceremony but… I'm happy with what I got to see."

"Are you going to tell me you were there to see your own birth, next?" Anali said teasingly.

Lucina's face turned red, she covered her face with a hand. "That was something I would not mind missing," she said.

With the ribbon secured around Lucina's hair Anali reached out for her tiara on the table. Holding it in both hands Anali realized that it was very familiar. "Is this mine?" Anali asked, which only caused Lucina's face to redden eve further.

"I-I…" Lucina stuttered, watching her mother's reflection as she placed the tiara on the crown of her head. "I wanted to have something of yours when I had to leave the palace shortly after you and Father died." A small embarrassed smile played upon her lips. "I… kind of wore it often when you weren't home."

Anali gave Lucina a lopsided smile. "Well, it's not as though I wear it much anyway," she said.

Lucina stood up and turned to Anali with a slight _swish_ of her skirt. Even with her tiara on she looked like she could have been a simple village maiden. Her skirt was a warm red-orange, the ribbon that tied her hair into a low ponytail matched the skirt. Her top was white with sleeves that went halfway down her forearm. Her locket rested against her chest as opposed to hiding in Lucina's clothes as it was before. "I don't think Chrom's going to recognize you," Anali said, pressing her forehead against Lucina's.

"I _do_ feel different," Lucina confessed. "But it's a good different."

"Well 'good different' is always… well, good," Anali took Lucina by the hand. "Now, we better head down before Frederick sends a search party."

Downstairs the mess hall was filled with the inn's guest, a good portion of them being the Shepherds themselves. When they found Chrom, Lissa, and Gaius Chrom had to look twice at the sight of Lucina. Anali grabbed her hand giggling in a way that clearly said 'told you so.' "Ah, Luci, honey!" Lissa said at the sight of her niece. "You look so cute!"

A bright smile played upon Lucina's face. "Mother and I went shopping," she said simply.

"And then I played dress-up with her," Anali added.

"Well, you both have good taste," Chrom said before he pressed his lips as the crown of Lucina's head. "You look beautiful." When he parted from his daughter, Chrom took Anali's hand. "Both of you." He pulled Anali close to him, one hand entangled with her hair as he kissed her.

"Chrom…" Anali breathed out when they broke apart, her face flushed as she tried to hide her face behind her hair. "Not in front of Lucina… and everyone else."

"Fine," Chrom said with a slight roll of his eyes. "But you owe me."

"I do not!"

"All right, all right," Gaius said with a heavy sigh. "Any more of that and I'm not sure Lucina can take much more."

At this, Lissa elbowed her fiancé in the side. However there was some truth to Gaius' words. Lucina had taken her seat at the table, her face buried in her hand as she suffered from second hand embarrassment. Just like the Father and Mother in her memory…

Dinner was made up roasted pork and chicken, steamed carrots and potatoes with hazelnut soup and fresh bread. It became apparent very quickly that Lucina inherited both of her parents love of meats, given how fast she wolfed down her pork. On the flipside, she also had Anali's fondness for soups.

Throughout dinner Nowi sat beside Lucina asking her a heap of questions. Not so much about the child she may or may not have, but about time travel. How did Lucina get separated from her friends? How did she know when to arrive? Has anything changed between Lucina's history and the current time? They were questions Lucina wasn't always sure _how_ to answer.

"Time travel's confusing," Nowi summed up bluntly.

After dinner a majority of the Shepherds filed off to bed. Lucina's room was across the hall from Chrom and Anali's, something the princess wasn't exactly complaining about. Even her parents weren't really complaining as it wasn't all that different from the baby's nursery, which was right across the hall from their room, back in the palace.

Having had nightmares two nights in a row Anali was reluctant to sleep. The dreams were filled with scenarios where her friends die horribly. Just last night she and Sumia were comforting Cordelia after Stahl was torn apart alive at the hands of Risen. Then Panne was being patched up after she lost a finger and one of her ears was split. Anali did not want to see something like that for a third time.

After Anali removed her coat she searched her belongings to find her nightgown, and was surprised to find a book resting on top of her spare clothes. She had never seen it before, and it was clearly brand new. Curious, Anali took it into her hands and flipped through the pages. Smooth edges with the sent of fresh paper. "Chrom?" Anali asked looking over her shoulder at her husband. "Did you…?"

The Exalt had just removed his effect, leaving only the blue, one-sleeved, onesie he insisted on wearing. "Did I…?" he asked faking his confusion, though his smile gave it away. All Anali did was just point at the book in her hand, to which Chrom responded with a slight list of the head. "You looked like you could use a bit of light reading at night."

Anali's expression dropped as she held the book close to her chest. So she wasn't as quiet as she thought whenever she woke up in the middle of the night. He knew about her nightmares, he knew she wouldn't talk about them, so he tried to help in the most inconspicuous way possible. Anali grit her teeth in a moment of self-loathing. Why would she ever dream of killing such a man, especially since he was her husband?

She climbed onto the bed, keeping herself up on her knees. She dropped the book on the surface of the bed and wrapped her arms around her husband. Chrom already stood taller than her, a good six feet and two inches against Anali's own five foot, four inches, but she seemed smaller in this position. The action startled Chrom slightly, he placed one arm around his wife's shoulder. "What's wrong?" he asked gently.

"I love you," Anali said so fast Chrom almost missed it. Her embrace around him tightened, she buried her face into his chest and said again, muffled, "I love you…"

Chrom blinked once, and then wrapped his both arms around Anali. Her left hand snaked itself under his arm, and up his neck, guiding him down so their lips met. Chrom leaned forward, adjusting his arms so Anali was properly supported. Anali adjusted her position so they could both get on the mattress. The passions they pushed aside since before Lucina was born came to life in an instant.

It wouldn't be until the deed was done that either of them realized that they may need to apologize to Frederick and Sumia in the morning.

* * *

_Ylisstol palace had been home for nearly a decade. Tonight it is just another battle ground. They had never gotten this far before, but it's natural. Our guards are down, it was only a matter of time before they stormed the palace proper. _

_The children are as safe as can be in the safe room. Sumia hated to leave them alone in there without adult supervision. I hate it, too, but we need every unit out here. Retracting my hand from the spell I'd just cast I hear Lissa scream. She had just narrowly dodged a Risen's sword. "Lissa!" I shout._

_I hurry to her side as Lissa herself extends her hand; the Risen is blown back by her strongest wind spell. She stands up, her Sage robe slightly wrinkled, but surprisingly free of tears or bloodstains. And surprising still, she is still able to wear her hair down without it getting in the way. "I'm fine," she tells me, "never mine me, we have to keep the castle safe."_

"_Yeah," I nod._

_She said 'keep the castle safe,' but what she means is 'keep the children safe.' Their home was invaded. Their sense of security has been taken from them tonight. I don't disagree. These monsters invaded my home, and put my family at risk. If I could help it, they were not going to go easy._

_I pull my sword out and aim to strike at the nearest Risen. My blade collides with an axe several times in a moment of blind rage. I turn my back inwards, spinning around in place and dig my sword into the Risens side. I pull out my sword before the Risen falls onto the floor. Lissa's blood-curtailing scream startles me so much I almost jumped out of my skin. _

_I turn towards the door to find that a little blond boy has wandered into the room. And then I see the Risen Archer who had taken aim at him, with several arrow notched onto its bow string. My heart sinks into my chest and my blood runs cold. No!_

_As soon as the Risen released the arrows Gaius hurls himself in front of the boy. He hold the boy close to him, his breathing becomes strained as soon as the arrows pierce into his back. The boy is utterly stunned, his hand grips onto Gaius' tunic so hard his knuckles have turned white. His eyes have become so wide, and tears spill out of his eyes. Gaius tries to ignore the pain, and seems completely oblivious to the blood seeping out of the corners of his mouth. He pats he boy on the head. "Keep you… mother smiling for me…'kay Squirt," he tells the boy._

_Unable to hold on any longer Gaius falls over onto the side taking the boy with him. Lissa screams his name she sprints to his side. The Archer readies his bow again, but Chrom's sword plunges right through it's neck, killing the thing instantly. I hurry to the boy and pull him away the body. "Gaius…" Lissa chokes, gathering Gaius into her arms. His head just flops around, his eyes are still half-open. Lissa's shoulders shake as she caresses his face with one hand. "Gaius… Gaius come back to me… Come on…" Her voice breaks each time she opens her mouth. Her eyes are so full of tears they side down her pale cheeks with one blink. "I'll show you… I-I'll…"_

_She hold Gaius close to her and starts full out sobbing in the crook of his neck. "Aunt Anali," the boy says looking at the scene in front of us, "why isn't Father wakening up? Father… Father, come on, stop playing around, you're upsetting Mother!" The boy struggles in my grip, his thin arm reaches out for Lissa and Gaius, the realization is slowly dawning on him. "Father? Father, why won't you answer me?!"_

Anali woke up to the sounds of someone screaming profanities. Her eyelids felt heavy as she prompted herself up on her elbows. She felt the sheet slide off her body as Chrom stood up and tied it around his waist. Trying to shake of sleep, Anali felt around the floor for her coat. When she found she slid her arms through the sleeves, and held the flaps closed. Chrom opened the door and poke his head out, by the time Anali caught up she was just in time to see one of the inn workers be lead back down the hall by Libra and Frederick. The worker had one hand pressed against the side of his head, but Anali could see a trail of blood. He was screaming at someone on the opposite end of the hall, he was loud enough to draw the attention of everyone else on the floor, and possibly the above and below floors. "I'm sorry!" someone said quickly. Like clockwork Chrom, Anali, and everyone else who was watching turned to find Arun, shirtless, and wearing loose trousers. Both hands were entangled with his hair. "I'm so sorry! I didn't think… I thought…"

"I don't want to hear it!" the inn worker shouted before he went into another fit of profanities.

"Please," Libra said calmly, "if you stop fighting I might be able to save your ear. Can someone fix him a cup of tea?"

Libra and Frederick continued to lead in the worker down the hall. By then everyone sleeping on the floor had opened to the door to their room and poked heir head out. Arun slammed his door shut, causing everyone to look down the opposite end of the hall. Immediately Anali pushed Chrom aside. "Anali…" he said simply as she headed for Arun's room. "Anali!"

"What?!" Anali snapped turned back towards him. She had almost thrown both hands down in anger. Her red eyes once again succeeded in highlighting her anger.

When Chrom didn't reply for a pregnant pause, Anali turned on her heel and continued down the hall. Chrom braced himself against the doorframe and rubbed his temples. If she had to speak with him now, couldn't she have properly dressed herself first?

Arun's door was mercifully unlocked; upon opening it Anali found Arun seated on his bed with head in his hands. He looked up when he heard the door close behind Anali. There was a long moment when the two just stared at each other. Arun was clearly the older of the two, his white hair was a bit shaggy, and he had the same sharp eyes Anali had. It did occur to her that they both got their eye shape from Validar. "Y-you and I are…?" Anali forced out.

"Yeah," Arun said with a nod. He paused for a moment. "Kind of."

"'Kind of?'" Anali repeated. "We either are, or we're not."

"It get's a little complicated when two different women are involved."

Oh… okay. So that explained a couple of thing. Or at least Anali thought it did. "So you don't know anything about my mother?" asked Anali.

"Why are you asking me?" Arun asked in reply. "It's your mother, you should know."

Sighing, Anali rested her back against the door. "I can't remember anything beyond two years ago," she confessed. "My earliest memory is the day I met my husband."

"Well, isn't that just romantic?" Arun asked mockingly. He eyed Anali wearily. "And you're not wearing anything under that coat, are you?"

Her face flushed, and she held her coat tighter. Of all the conversations she should be having with her recently discovered brother - well, half-brother, apparently - this was not one of them. "Don't act so innocent," Arun sighed, "I know about your daughter, it's obvious you've done it with Chrom at least _once_."

So this was what having siblings was like. "You don't know anything about my mother?"

Arun remained silent for a moment as he thought about his words carefully. "Yesterday… the meeting on Carrion Isle was the first time we actually met," he said. "I always knew _of_ you, but I often forgot I technically _had_ a sister. So, no, I don't know anything about your mother."

Anali bit the inside of her cheek. Okay, so she had some answers, but most of her questions were still left unanswered. There was one obvious question that he could answer 'who is the hierophant really?' But Anali was too afraid of the answer to ask. "Chrom and Frederick are going to have a few questions for you," Anali said simply.

"I imagine so."

She eyed the dressing on Arun's shoulder. "Do you need help getting dressed?" she asked.

"Probably, but I don't think you're in the position. Although you can help me with something," he walked up to Anali, grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her close. "I have some very specific instructions, so listen carefully."

Arun lowered his mouth to Anali's ear and whispered something into it. When he let go of her arm, Anali took a step back with her brow arched in confusion. Her face relaxed slowly as the realization dawned on her. Anali nodded, "I'll see what I can do."

Within the hour Anali learned about what happened between Arun and the worker. Apparently Arun had woken up in a state of confusion, so when the worker stopped by his room to check up on him, Arun's first instinct was to attack the man. The inn worker ended up with a sliced ear.

After Anali had dressed and eaten she found herself back in Arun's room with Chrom and Frederick. The man himself was stretching out his limbs, having been out for two days. "Should we still call you Arun?" Chrom asked.

"Yes," Arun replied. He lowered his arms then stared at Chrom. "Should I call you 'bro?'"

"What?"

"You _are_ my brother-in-law. Well, half-brother-in-law, but that doesn't really roll of the tongue."

"So you really _are_ milady's brother?" Frederick inquired.

"_Half_-brother. Same father, different mothers, it's not that difficult a concept."

"I have a feeling we'll have time to sort out the family affairs later," Chrom said crossing his arms over his chest. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about this. When the married Chrom was sure he would have been ecstatic to find anything about Anali's past. But then came the hierophant and Validar. However, Arun was the same Plegian assassin who openly admitted that he was a traitor amongst his numbers. "What I'm trying to figure out is what you're aiming to accomplish."

Arun shrugged lazily. "Spiting Father dear," he said. "Getting to know my getting to know the widdle sister I forget even existed. Or maybe I have delusions of grandeur and want to take out the Grimleal." He cracked his knuckles. "Regardless I doubt I can actually go back."

Anali's brow arched. He was trying to take down the Grimleal? Wasn't it Plegia's national religion? Delusions of grandeur indeed. "Why would you want to take down an entire religion?" Chrom asked.

"It's not so much the religion its self, so much as the fanatics," Arun said looking down. His eyes were hidden behind his bangs. "It's because of the fanatics that my mother is dead."

And that was all Arun was going to say on the matter. No one needed to say as such, it was pretty obvious he was going to remain tightlipped about that. "So that's it?" Frederick asked, his voice was calm and even. "You spill the slightest of secrets just to spite your father?"

"Hey, I warned you about that hierarch of yours," Arun shot back. "It's not my fault none of you could figure it out until it was too late. And I got that Cleric to Regna Ferox. _And_ I warned you about the Risen attack. You guy's wouldn't have stood a chance if they caught you by surprise."

"You still could have told us Treino was giving Validar information," Chrom said. He crossed his arms over his chest in thought. No, he couldn't tell Treino when they were all together. Treino would have defended himself and it would have been his words against Arun's. "You could have told someone in private."

"I flat out said that I wasn't doing it out of the goodness of my heart," Arun pointed out. "So I wasn't going to hand over the answers on a silver platter."

Chrom wasn't sure if he liked Arun or not. On the one hand, he could have given them so much more information the night of Emmeryn's assassination attempt. But, he did save Elaine, and brought her to Regna Ferox so she could warn him of Emm's execution. And, yes, he did inform them about the Risen on Carrion Isle. And Arun did save Lissa from the arrow. And, whether Chrom liked it or not, he was Anali's brother.

"What are you going to do?" he asked finally. "I doubt you could go back to Validar after you helped us." He paused for a moment. He wasn't going to like this, but if he didn't offer Anali was going to be angry with him for a while. "You are welcome to join us if you wish."

Arun stretched his arm's above his head. As he lowered them, he rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand. "You're right," he said. "I can't go back now. I think Validar knew what the hand I played two years ago. But I don't think he'll ignore it this time." He looked at both Chrom and Anali. "So… yeah. I'll help in anyway I can."

A knock came from the door; it creaked open a little revealing Sumia. Instantly, Frederick, Chrom, Anali and Arun turned to look at her. The Pegasus Knight looked a little bashful, especially since a complete stranger was looking at her. "Captain," she said, "Plegia's ship's have arrived, and the Khan's suggested we set sail soon."

Sumia gave the Exalt a brief nod of the head, then she flashed her husband a small smile before she disappeared behind the door again. "Look's like you'll be helping us soon," Anali told Arun.

* * *

Arun wore the same clothes he had when he warned them about the oncoming Risen in Carrion Isle. But this time, he left his cowl down and abandoned his mask. What was the point now? There was a handful of people who knew of Arun's relation to Anali, namely family. Lucina was a little uncomfortable around her new uncle, as she said, aside from Flavia and Gaius she had no other aunts or uncles in her era. Arun didn't seem to mind, even though there were several unfortunate implications about his fate.

They set sail within the hour. Tybalt and Cherche had flown ahead of the searching for the Valmese warship. Once more Anali and Panne found themselves seasick free. This time, Anali was determined to thank Tharja for her assistance. The Dark Mage was genuinely surprised when Anali threw her arms around her. Partially because Tharja rarely allowed anyone to touch her, and partially because it was _Anali_. Tharja may have given up on trying to win her over in _this_ life, but she would have to be a damn fool not to enjoy this. "I'm sorry it took so long to thank you for your assistance," Anali said when they pulled apart. "It _is_ your magic that's been curing Panne and I of our seasickness, yes?"

Blushing, Tharja bit her lower lip. "What good is our tactician if she's struggling not to upchuck?" she asked in response.

"Still, it helps out a lot. Why don't we do something, just the two of us when things calm down."

"Please!"

By the time Anali found Chrom and Lucina, the latter of the two was looking at the horizon, the wind blowing through her hair. "Someone it feels like our troubles are miles away," she said thoughtfully.

"Yet in truth," Chrom said through a sigh, "we're headed straight for them. I ought to be grateful Plegia delivered us this fleet, as promised. This is something as a first. I never fancied myself a sea captain, and your mother's usually below deck until we dock."

"Well, this is my first voyage on sea," Lucina said turning back to her father and mother. "In my time, all ships were destroyed. All but smashed to pieces, along with there ports."

Exhaling through his nose, Chrom crossed his arms over his chest in thought. "Lucina," he said after a pregnant pause. "I've been wondering something. After you stopped Emm's assassination, why didn't stay with us?"

"I felt I had no other choice," Lucina explained. "I could not risk altering history any more than necessary. I only sought to divert events that directly lead to Grima's return."

"So, what would have happened?" Anali asked. "Arun said the target was the Fire Emblem."

Lucina nodded slightly. "It wasn't just the Fire Emblem. It started with those assassin's in outside the garrison. Father's arm would have been gravely injured, it never really healed."

"_The healer's say that the injury he sustained is never going to heal."_

Oh no… Oh no, no, no, no… It couldn't be. It was… no. It was just a truly bizarre coincidence. There was no way Anali's nightmares could actually be… no. She would not put any stock in such ludicrous notions!

"And, I've been told, that Aunt Emmeryn was brutally murdered," Lucina continued. "The rest is as… U-uncle… Arun said. The Fire Emblem was stolen. And then came the endless slew of tragedies."

"W-well, that's good then," Anali said, ignoring the chill she felt up her spine. "Chrom's arm is fine and so-"

Lucina cut her off, "The river of time always favors its original course. Like Aunt Emmeryn's death… I was only able to stall it, but in the end I was unable to prevent it."

Chrom reached out for Lucina and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You did what you could," he assured her.

She shook her head. "I was so certain that it was over," she said, more to herself than to her parents. "That it was enough and history had been altered. But time simply found another way back to its course. Perhaps if I'd done something different, then-"

"Don't," Chrom said giving her shoulder a squeeze. "You did your best. You saved me, after all."

Wordlessly, Lucina removed Chrom's arm from her shoulder. "You are kind, Father," she said. "But nothing is certain. Another could take you life as easily as Aunt Emmeryn's. Time could find way…"

"Do you know how I die?" Chrom asked hesitantly, and Anali's stomach dropped.

She saw it so often in her dreams she didn't want to talk about it while she was awake. She didn't want to talk about her own death either. She didn't want to know how old Lucina was when they died. She didn't want to think of her baby growing up without them. "Just what Aunt Lissa and Sir Frederick told me," Lucina said, avoiding eye contact with either of them. "I was told you fell in a great battle, fought to sway your destiny. A-and that you were… murdered. Betrayed by someone dear to you."

"_This is not your-your fault… Promise me… you'll escape form this place… Please… go…"_

Anali's hand pressed firmly against her temple in an attempt to ease the sudden jolt of pain. Gods, _why?_

"Anali?" Chrom startled her. Anali jumped, lowered her hand to find her husband with one hand hovering close to her elbow. "What is it?"

"J-just a headache," Anali said trying to put on her best smile. "I'm fine."

Lucina eyed her mother. There was a little nagging voice in her head that suggested something Lucina just couldn't believe. She ignored it as best as she could, and continued, "After you were murdered, Grima returned, and I was told Mother was one of Grima's first victims. When I was old enough I took the name Marth and fought back."

"_We can't let these things win. Now grab a sword, and fight!"_

"I prayed to the Hero-King for a small part of the strength he used to save the world," Lucina continued. Smiling, she shook her head. "But I need this subterfuge no longer. I choose to fight as Lucina now. The name that reminds me of the strength in the man and woman who chose it."

Before she could stop herself, Anali clasped a hand over her mouth. What the hell did she do to be given such a child? Anali didn't… she didn't… Overwhelmed with emotion Anali tried to bite back a sob. But she couldn't do anything to stop her shoulders from shaking. At her side, Chrom snaked an arm around her shoulder, and pulled her close to him. "A strength shared by the woman who bears it."

"Milord."

In perfect unison, the family turned to see Frederick and the Khan's striding up to them. Frederick stopped in front of Ylissean royals, his back straight and his arms neatly folded behind his back. "Tybalt reports the Valmese fleet is less than a mile away," Frederick informed them. "He also says their fleet matches ours, ship for ship."

"And something tells me this is not good news," Chrom replied.

"Their troops vastly outnumber ours. Our vessels are half-full, at best. But every Valmese ship is packed from stem to stern with soldiers."

"We're given little choice but to try anyway," Flavia said flatly. "Plegia had no men to spare, but they were generous with other supplies, oil included." With a raise brow, she eyed Anali. "Perhaps my clever sister could find a use for that."

Anali crossed her arms over her chest in thought. "Perhaps she could…" she said thoughtfully.

"We could always put their ships to flame. But that would leave us nowhere to escape."

"Right," Basilio agreed. "We've got more than enough oil. But the shore is too far a swim either way. And we don't have enough flying units to carry everyone."

"If we had catapults, that'd be something."

"Well," Anali said lifting her pointer finger. "Perhaps we want our catch our ships in a blaze…"

Basilio turned his head towards Anali. "Now why in the gods' names would…." he paused mid-complaint and sighed. "Well, I know better than to question Anali. Especially now that she's got that look in her eyes." Laughing he clapped Anali on the back, getting a quiet 'ow' from her. "Gods save us from whatever plan she's cooked up this time!"

"I've got an idea," Anali said through a sigh. "But I can tell very few are going to _like_ it."

"It probably wouldn't work if we did," Chrom joked. He grasped Anali's hand and rubbed his thumb against her wedding ring. "So much has changed since the day we found you, laying in the open field. Hard to believe you determine the fate of our entire army now… and our entire people. Destiny has a strange way."

Anali pursed her lips and shook her head. "No," she said thoughtfully. "Not destiny."

"Hm?"

"We're not pawns of some scripted fate," Anali said, looking down at her hands as though she were trying to grasp at something right in front of her. "There's more to it than that."

"How do you mean?"

"There's something between us all. Something that keeps us together. Like…" Anali waved her hand through the air, trying to weave together the right words. "Like invisible ties, connecting us. Giving us strength. We choose to forge these ties. We choose to strengthen them. If we preserve them, or break them it's by our own chose, not some 'destiny.'"

Everyone around her was silent for a moment, which only caused Anali's face to turn pink. The silence was broken when Chrom broke out into laughter. This did not stop Anali's blush at all. "Anali…" Chrom breathed out while he tussled his wife's hair, "I think the salt air might have gone to your head."

"You asked," Anali murmured.

"Alright," said Flavia. "We've got a plan and less than an hour before we meet the Valmese. We've got some preparations to make."

Anali was already mapping out what they needed to do if this was going to work. Yes, there was going to be a lot of complaint with this, but it was the best chance they had. "Anali," Chrom said, taking her by the forearm. She looked over her shoulder, and was quickly pulled into her husband's arms. "If we really are bound by these invisible ties, I thanks the gods it's with you."

She bit her lower lip, her hands gripped onto the fabric of his tunic. As crazy as it sounded, Anali really couldn't deny it any longer. She couldn't keep her dreams to herself anymore.

* * *

They filled half their ships with less than half of their soldiers. The majority were on the other half, they would be missing out on the action. Anali stood at the bow of the ship with Chrom and the Khan's. Above them hovered their Pegasus Knights with one of their mages riding with them. They sailed head-on towards the overwhelming number of Valmese warships. They did not play around when it came to war, Anali quickly realized, she counted at least five ships that had the catapults Flavia mentioned wanting.

Anali's hand held on tight to Chrom's as she ordered herself to relax. She realized, the closer they got to the Valmese, that she wasn't nervous at all. She was excited. This plan was crazy, and that was so exhilarating about it. They wouldn't see it coming.

Chrom lifted his free hand, then dropped it one swift motion. In unison the mages cast a fire spell downward onto the ships below them. Instantly, Chrom turned on his heel, shouting for everyone on deck with them to run. Obediently, Anali ran down the deck, ignoring the fires that spread all around her. She ran as far as the deck went, then jumped from the stern, onto the bow of the next ship. This continued until Sumia and Rosella swooped down. Anali struggled to climb onto the moving pegasus and was pretty much carried to safety draped over Rosella's haunches.

Half of the ships were filled with oil, while the other half would be spared of the blaze. Anali's plan was to sail forward as much as possible, then just before the Valmese ships were on them the mages would start the fire. The flaming ships would crash and create a domino effect.

From the safety of their remaining ships, Anali watched as each Valmese ship crashed onto one another, and set fire. The soldiers would either burn up in the blaze, or drown, miles away from shore. There was something hauntingly beautiful about the sight, just as good as any spoil of war. "I can't believe it worked," Frederick, one those who had his reservations about the plan, said in awe.

Laughing, Flavia clapped Anali on the back, causing her to wince in pain. "Only you could hatch such a brilliant scheme, Anali!" she praised. "The Valmese never saw it coming."

"Of course not," added Basilio, "not when we were as outnumbered as we were. Strength in numbers and all that. They wouldn't have expected us to sacrifice half the fleet."

"This victory should buy some time to search for your friends," Chrom said turning towards Lucina. "You said you had an idea of where to find someone?"

Lucina bit her lower lip, unsure if this was a good idea. If they found him too soon. "T-the Wyvern Valley," she said. "That's the only place, though."

"It's still a start," said Anali.

"You heard her," Chrom said, addressing the Shepherded, "we're headed for the Wyvern Valley."

It felt a little odd to just abandon the warfront like this, even if it was for a good cause. Even if Basilio's men were keeping a watch out for the Valmese next move. Anali felt her heart rattle in her chest. "C-Chrom," Anali said, approaching her husband. Her tongue suddenly felt like lead. "Can we speak somewhere private with the Khans? Th-there's… there's something we need to talk about."

* * *

**Authors Note: **It's official. This is the longest chapter in this story, beating out Chapter 4 by a little more than a page. There just really wasn't a good place to split the chapter.

So, looks like Arun is only Anali's _half _brother. Well, that at least explains why he was with Validar. Kind of.

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	31. Chapter Thirty-One

**Chapter Thirty-One  
For the Dancing and the Dreaming**

"And there you go," Cherche said marking the map. "Just a hop, skip and a jump from here."

"You mean a _several days_ hop, skip, and jump from here," Chrom pointed out. He leaned back in his chair. "It's going to take a good two days before we reach land. And a good week before we even reach the Wyvern Valley."

The three of them sat in a secluded room below deck with a map of Valm laid out flat on the table. Cherche was naturally the person to ask when it came to the Wyvern Valley. That was the place where she met Minerva twenty years ago, after all.

"Might want to add another day to that," Anali said outlining a small island halfway to their docking destination. "I think we'd better stop at the Verdant Forest here for food provisions. It wouldn't hurt to have a few extra water skins on hand too. Maybe we should hire a guide, too, we're exploring foreign territory after all."

"Now, what do you need a guide for, when you have me?" Cherche said with a playful grin. "But I do agree, we should probably stock up on food, between the port and the Valley is the Sage's Hamlet, other than that it's miles of forest."

"All right, then," Chrom said with a brief nod. "I'll inform Frederick, and we'll dock… when we dock."

"Excellent," Cherche stood up so fast her hair flounced. "If you excuse me, Minervykins usually eats right about now. She'll be excited to know we're docking sooner than expected. Poor dear _hates_ to be cooped up for long."

Without another word Cherche headed upstairs onto the deck. Anali gripped her chin in thought. Lucina was the one who said that her friend could be in the Wyvern Valley, and she almost regretted bringing it up soon after. Anali dared to wonder that maybe this friend was Cherche's child, or at least they were _going_ to be. It did make sense given that, as far as she knew, Cherche was unmarried and Lucina did mention that she feared Chrom and Anali would have married out of obligation rather than genuine love had she revealed her identity too soon. It's a concern that's not just for Lucina and her parents.

After dinner that night most of the Shepherds were spending a bit of time on the deck, just chatting amongst themselves before lights out. It probably wouldn't last long, given the bugs were coming out. Nowi was looking over Tharja's shoulder as she read. Sully, Sumia, and Cordelia were in a deep conversation. "I figure with my genes Kellam and I could make some pretty tough kids," said Sully. She leaned her head back, draining her mug of mead. "So, yeah I'm pretty damn sure our kids not only _survived_ as long as they did in Lucina's future, but they came back with her. Now, it's just finding and meeting 'em."

"I wouldn't mind if my child took after Stahl in personality," said Cordelia. "I think Stahl would make happy children."

"Ah!" Sully suddenly gasped. "I just realized you still got a wedding to look forward to!"

"Oh, yes, that's true," Sumia said with a raised brow. A sly smile appeared on her face. "I nothing else all this travel will help you find something to wear for your wedding night."

Sully let out a haughty laugh as she clapped her hands together three times. "Ah, the wedding night," Sully said leaning back in her seat. "Just as memorable as the wedding day."

Cordelia caught sight of the blush on Sumia's porcelain cheeks. Cordelia herself felt a sense of dread at the words 'wedding night.' While Sumia and Sully where quickly complimenting each other for wearing out their respective husbands Cordelia flicked her finger against her breastplate, the one bit of armor she always wore even when she took off her gauntlets and pauldrons. A sad, pitiful echo vibrated against the metal. Cordelia felt certain that any daughter she would have with Stahl would have one asset Cordelia lacked.

"I just hope klutziness isn't hereditary," Sumia said though a sigh. "But, either way I'll love any child I have with Frederick."

Ricken, however, found himself seeking love advice. From Chrom and Libra. Namely how to talk to a special lady. "So, it's pretty much just walk up to her and say it?" asked Ricken.

"Well, it helps to plan ahead a little," Chrom said quickly. "Think about what you want to say before you actually say it." He turned his head and muttered, "That would have been nice to know."

"Of course there's nothing wrong with saying something in the moment," Libra offered, "so long as it comes from the heart."

"But you don't want to fumble over yourself. You might lose track of the point you're trying to make."

"But even if you _do_, I'm sure she'll understand. There is a reason why you wish to confess to her, yes?"

"W-well, yeah, but…" Ricken tried to explain. What he wanted to say that this was a real classy girl, but the instant he said that it would make who his special lady fairly obvious and she might hear it from someone else rather than Ricken himself.

"How far do you want to go?" Chrom asked, leaning against the bow.

"I-I might… well…" Ricken started to fiddle with his hands. "How did you two do it?"

"I had a just stone on me," explained Libra. "It looked something like a dragonstone, and when I asked I told Nowi that I would have it made into a ring I she accepted. The ring was ready just before we left Ylisse."

"I was kind of caught up in the moment," Chrom said rubbing the back of his neck, "so Anali didn't have a ring. Once we had the wedding date set we didn't bother with it given there was only two months to wait."

Ricken couldn't help but gulp. He did have a ring, his family signet ring. Granted his family wasn't as powerful as it once was, certainly not like the Alder's and Duir's. Nor did they have the foreign connection's the Rebeck's have. The Page's title was the one thing that separated them from the well-off common man.

After a while Anali was sitting on deck, playing her ocarina while Olivia danced to the tune. Ricken had tucked his gloves into his belt and was fiddling with his signet ring nonstop since his talk with Chrom and Libra. They didn't exactly say anything that was a real help, and he found it to be contradictory. Maybe he should have asked Stahl for advice instead. He always seemed good at that.

"Ricken," Maribelle said, suddenly at his side. Ricken's voice was caught in his throat, and his mind went blank. "May we speak somewhere private?"

Before the mage could answer, Maribelle grabbed Ricken by the hand and lead him to the back of the ship, safely away from the others. There was something a little comical about the sight. Maribelle was amongst one of the shorter females in the Shepherds, and here she was dragging around five foot nine Ricken. "So… uh," Ricken said when Maribelle let go of his hand. "Tea time?"

"Not quite," Maribelle said while she steepled her fingers together. "I've actually come to you with something of a proposal. You see, I would like to help with the restoration of your family's name."

The mage took a steep back. "Th-that's very kind, Maribelle, but not necessary," he said. "Even with your coin House Page still wouldn't have much to our name aside from our title. We have to earn our keep ourselves."

"Well, yes, of course," Maribelle said gently. Without really thinking she reached out for Ricken's hand. "What I'm trying to say is-"

"Ah…" he cut her off. With his free hand he reached up and removed his hat. "I've been doing some thinking. And I… actually have a proposal of my own."

She tilted her head slightly. "Oh?"

Removing his hand from hers, Ricken slid his signet ring off his finger and placed it into Maribelle's palm. "I'd like for you to have this," said Ricken.

With one look Maribelle recognized what it was. Her eldest brother had the one belonging to the Alder family. She held the ring back out to him. "Ricken, I cannot accept this," she said kindly. "You should reserve this for your future wife."

Almost instantly Ricken lowered his head and kicked at the deck. Not quite the response he was hoping for. "Yes," he said under his breath. "Exactly."

Maribelle's eyes widened in realization, and she almost slapped herself in the face. This was far from one of her brightest moments. "Ah, yes… of course…" she said with a slight laugh. A genuine smile quickly appeared on her face. "Well, it would seem that you and I were proposing the same thing."

"Wait, what?!" Ricken asked, his voice raised an octave. "So that was-"

"Of course. You just said it yourself, your family can only be restored from within."

"I don't care about any of that, Maribelle!" he shouted. "I'll only marry you if… if you love me."

Maribelle's cheeks were a bright shades of scarlet. "That shouldn't be a problem then," she said while she removed her glove in order to put the ring on. "Of course I _do_ care about your family's place on the council, but do you really think I was the sort of woman who would marry a man she didn't love?"

"Ah… _well_…" Ricken rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn't about to tell her that he could easily see Maribelle martyring herself just as easily as marrying for love.

"Ricken, darling, you've become a man with strength equal to the passion of his convictions," said Maribelle. "And now I'll have the pleasure of calling that man my husband one day."

"So… it's a yes?"

"Yes, of course, love."

A silence fell over the Shepherds the moment Ricken shouted, _"She said yes!"_

Lissa let out a gasp when she clasped her hands over her cheeks. "They actually did it!" she exclaimed. Instantly, she turned to Gaius with a large grin on her face. "Maybe we can have a double wedding!"

Gaius' mouth fell open slightly. "Uh…" he uttered dumbly. "I'm up for anything, but shouldn't you take this up Twinkles and Shortstuff before planning anything?"

"Yeah, you're right…"

Olivia could not help but smile. It was a little _too_ convenient to think that everyone in the army was finding love, but it _was_ a wonderful thought. Who better to share your life with than with someone you fought wars with? Her eyes looked up to meet with Lon'qu's, and in perfect unison the two looked away embarrassed. Lon'qu had gotten a little more comfortable with Olivia standing close to him, and would even let her cling to his arm. It should eventually come to the point where they could make babies one day.

They still didn't have an exact wedding date planed, but they knew they wanted to have it in Regna Ferox, and they wanted a traditional Feroxi wedding. And of course, Olivia waned Basilio to give her away. They were still talking about what they wanted to do _after _the wedding. Where they would live, what kind of income they would have, and what Lon'qu was going to do if he ever sired a daughter.

The chattered had resumed amongst the Shepherds, and Ricken and Maribelle returned from their conversation holding hands. Lissa had pretty much pounced on her friend when she informed Lissa and Gaius of their engagement. Sumia was speaking with Frederick; there was a time when Olivia thought Sumia was trying to get her husband to relax, but she realized pretty quickly that she was just keeping him company or fetching him a drink. Tonight she was just keeping her husband company while he watched for any potential nighttime threat.

Anali had resumed playing her ocarina, Olivia recognized the melody she was playing, it was one of her favorites to dance to, especially with children. Not for; _with_. Granted the song started fairly slow, but when it picked up it was difficult not to dance along. And it was a love song.

"_I'll swim and sail on savage seas…" _Olivia sang without realizing it.

Several heads, Lon'qu's included, turned to look at her. Olivia's face flushed, and her voice wasn't as strong as the opening line.

"_W-with a ne'er a fear of drowning  
And gladly ride the waves of life…"_

She dared to look up at Lon'qu as she continued. A smile broke out on her face when she saw the slight smile on his own face.

"_If you will marry me…_

_No scorching sun  
Nor freeing cold  
Will stop me on my journey  
If you will promise me your heart"_

Anali looked up to find Chrom and Lucina. Chrom was leaning against the rail on the opposite side of the deck, with Lucina leaned into his chest. She still missed her baby to the point of insanity, but after hearing everything Lucina's older self went though the sight still made Anali feel warm inside.

"_And love me for eternity…"_

When the music started to pick up Olivia started to sway her arms in a dance. She heard the sound of thumping against something hollow. Olivia looked over her shoulder quickly to find that one of the new guys, Arun, had taken a seat on the other side of Anali and was using an empty pail as a drum. Despite that this is the first time they've done something like this Arun was able to easily play in tune with Anali as the song became fast paced, compared to the lulling melody it opened with.

"_My dearest one  
My darling dear  
Your mighty words astound me  
But I've no need for mighty deeds  
When I feel your arms around me"_

In a bold move, Lon'qu stepped up and offered a hand to Olivia. He, himself would admit that he was hardly a dancer in the sense that Olivia was. Swordplay was a dance in and of itself, but still very different from an entertainers dance. Lon'qu's steps were more reserved, however, allowing Olivia to really shine. He served as support for her more extravagant steps.

"_But I would bring you rings of gold  
I'd even sing you poetry  
And I would keep you from all harm  
If you would stay beside me"_

A few others had join in the dance, with Gaius stumbling over himself wherever Lissa dragged him, Libra was just twirling Nowi in place to her hearts content. There were some who were clearly enjoying themselves, even if they were more reserved, such as Sumia, who simply rested her head on Frederick's shoulder with a bright smile on her face.

"_I have no use for rings of gold  
I care not for your poetry  
I only want your hand to hold  
I only want you near me"_

A small interlude took place allowing for a few moments of wilder movements from Olivia. Or, at least as wild as dancing with the inexperienced Lon'qu allowed. Anali could see in his face that he was terrified of dropping her. It was kind of cute to see the stoic so flustered like this.

"_To love, to kiss, to sweetly hold  
For the dancing and the dreaming  
Through all life's sorrows and delights  
I'll keep your love inside me  
I'll swim and sail on savage seas  
With ne'er a fear of drowning  
And gladly ride the waves of life  
If you will marry me"_

The song ended with another twirl from Olivia that ended with her facing Lon'qu. He kept a hand on her waste, keeping her steady as soon as she came to a stop. The two of them turned red in the face when they heard the round of applause and stepped back. They may have grown quite comfortable together, but showing their affection in front of others was still going to take a bit of time.

Anali wet her lips, and dried off the mouthpiece of her ocarina. She stretched her arms after she stood up; Lucina hurried across the deck. "I didn't know you played, Uncle Arun," she said.

"Of course you didn't," Arun said standing up with a slight smile on his face. "We just met."

"Ah… well…"

"Arun, don't tease her," said Anali.

"Okay, if I can't tease my niece, what's the point in having one?" challenged Arun.

Lucina had to cover her mouth with her hand. This was the sort of light-heartedness that was only a dream in her era. She couldn't wait to find the others so they could experience this.

Virion watched the latter half of the performance from the head of the stairs. He gave a polite applause to the performers and smiled to himself as Anali spoke with Lucina. Without another word he walked back downstairs where Cherche, essentially, tucking Minerva in for the night. With Minerva, and Falkor being the army's largest mound, they took up a whole room themselves. "Back so soon, Ari?" Cherche quipped with a glance over her shoulder.

"Shooing me away, are we?" Virion countered playfully.

"You look like you're ready to doze off. I don't want your snoring to keep Minerva and Falkor up."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Virion leaned against the support beam in the middle of the room. Loath as the great Ari Virion was to admit it, he was having trouble sleeping, ever since that day on Carrion Isle when he denied himself the words he could barely hold in any longer. "I'm afraid I haven't been sleeping well as of late," he confessed. "My cot is dreadfully cold, and I've no one to share it with."

Cherche pretended to think. "Hmmm, well, I'm sure a village maiden can help with that."

Virion scoffed at the notions. "Do you think I can find happiness with any random lass? I have standards, dear!"

Cherche extended her pointer finger. "There are as many maids as stars in the sky," she pointed out. "There must be someone out there who can give you true happiness."

Virion adjusted his cravat, and took a deep breath in. "Yes," he admitted, "and you know full well who that person is."

Cherche's face remained as unreadable as ever, but it was the color that dusted her cheeks that gave her true feelings away. As cliché as it was Virion had been carrying the torch for Cherche, in the true and honest sense, for quite some time. He just never realized it until he saw her again after two years. It was like Virion was truly seeing her for the first time And with this war now may be the only time he had to be honest with her and himself. And if he knew Cherche as well as he thought he did, the feeling was mutual. "Ari…" she breathed out after a pregnant pause. "We… we're too close to each other."

"You say that like it is a bad thing," Virion was quick to point out. "Yes, we are close, and does that not make these feelings all the more true? I have been separated form you for two years, Cherche, and I cannot imagine going thought it again! How can another woman be anything but a shadow of what you are to me?"

Instantly, Cherche's brow dropped at her lips pursed to the side. "Now you're just practicing lines for you next conquest," she said dully. "It's a good one though."

A sly smile played upon Virion's lips. "_You_, of all people, should know when I'm being sincere," he said.

"Yes. I suppose I do."

"I do have one final card to play," Virion said. He reached into his pocket and produced a small box. "I have brought you this."

Wordlessly Cherche took the box into her hands, and opened it. She was met with a gold ring with a pink diamond in the center and tiny white diamonds at the sides. "Ari…" Cherche breathed out. She placed a hand over her chest, she imagined her eyes had softened at the sight of the ring. "You _are_ asking what I think you're asking, yes?"

"If you think I am asking you to be my wife, then yes. Yes indeed," said Virion. "Do you believe me now?"

Slowly, Cherche nodded. "I suppose I must."

"Then what is your answer? Will you accept?"

"I think I have to," Cherche said half-teasing. "Who else would agree to be _your_ wife? _However_," she held a finger up, "I war you; once we tie the know, your days of maids are over. Stray from me but once, and I'll have you to Minerva as a snack."

A chill ran up Virion spine. He jumped. "Nothing will be further from my mind!" he insisted. Thinking about it again, he tried again, "Well, the maid part. I'm always quite concerned about Minervykins."

Technically 'Minervykins' was Cherche's petname for the wyvern, but having heard it so often for years Virion let it slip out more than once. Luckily neither Cherche or Minerva minded, but if Virion had been anyone else then that would have been a horse of a different color. "Aw, did you hear that, my sweet Minerva?" Cherche said affectionate to the wyvern in the stable. "Now, you must be sure he'll keep his word."

Another chill ran up Virion's spine as Minerva let out shrill cry. "Must we resort to threats on such a joyous occasion, my dear?" he asked wearily.

"Just making sure we're all on the same page, love," Cherche replied with a sunny smile.

* * *

"Everyone's getting hitched," Tybalt said to himself. "At this rate I can't in good conscious take the boys out for a guys night anymore. Well, I could, but I don't want to worry their wives."

"You never _had_ a guys night," Priam said dully.

"Well, I can't _now_."

The ship docked that morning, and they had a few miles to march before they even arrived in the village. Tybalt and Falkor wound up with Priam as they flew over head. Tybalt was somewhat impressed with him, given he didn't feel the need to hold onto Tybalt. Of course the same could be said about Lon'qu. Perhaps it was just something amongst the stoics. "What about you?" Priam asked. "You've no lady friend or wife waiting for you?"

"Nope," Tybalt replied joyously with a pop on the 'p.' "Although I _was_ supposed to marry Emmeryn at one point."

Priam felt his brow rise when he heard that. Wasn't that the name of Chrom's late sister? Oh, yes, of course. While Priam stayed as far away from the Ylissean-Plegian war as possible even he heard of the Exalt who willingly went to her death if it meant putting an end to the fighting. Her actions was enough to ignite a stirring in the people of Plegia, had the war not ended when it did, Priam reckoned the people would have started a revolution. "You were?" he asked.

"Our fathers had it arranged shortly after Emm was born," Tybalt explained. "It was a similar case with Chrom, he was supposed to wed the daughter of one of the councilmen."

He could practically heard the nod from Priam. He knew what he was thinking; that Emmeryn abolished the engagements so they would have the chance to marry for love. After all, Exalt Calhoun made his own choice and married beneath him, why couldn't Calhoun's children? And that was partially it, at least when it came to Chrom. In their later years, Tybalt figured Emmeryn wasn't the marrying type. Or at least, if she was to marry it would have to be with someone she was very, _very _emotionally tied to.

"I won't force you into a loveless marriage," she had told him. She was nine, newly Exalted, he was twelve and at the time was trying to hide from his father who was taking his frustration out on Tybalt. They were alone in the garden just after Tybalt had heard the news of their former engagement. Emmeryn had just smiled at him, it was one of her few genuine smiles before her role utterly consumed her. "You are on your way to being a fine man, but you could never learn to love me."

It took another year for Tybalt to understand what Emm had meant by that, and to this day he was amazed that she figured it out before he did. "So, what about you?" Tybalt asked, wanting to move the conversation away from him. "No, wait, lemme guess… You're the type of man who would forget to settle down even if he wanted to."

Priam sucked in a breath and his back tensed. If that wasn't the perfect way to explain him. With so may men and women wanting to be trained by him, Priam often forgot that he was tired of coming home to an empty house, and falling asleep in a cold cot. True the empty house wasn't an issue anymore since he joined the Ylissean army, but that did not make his cot any warmer.

Much to Priam's relief they landed before Tybalt could press the matter.

The small town was bustling with daily activities. However with one look at the group of travelers the townsfolk imminently barricaded themselves into their homes. Within a mere matter of seconds it was a regular ghost town. "Quite the welcoming committee," Arun quipped.

Chrom turned his head slightly in Arun's direction with a slight glare in his eyes. "I'm going to take a shot in the dark," he said while he crossed his arms over his chest, "there's a bandit problem."

"And _I'm_ going to take a shot in the dark," Anali said while she opened her tactical book, "we're going to take care of it."

"Naturally."

"I'll see what I can come up with."

"Tybalt," Chrom said, looking over his shoulder. "Can you survey the area, see where they're camping out?"

"Right," the man in question said before he hoisted himself back upon his griffon.

"Okay," Anali spoke up while she turned to the rest of the Shepherds, "can I have some volunteers to stay in town, and we'll go from there."

Elsewhere in the forest one of the local maiden's had found herself with her back pressed against the tree, her eyes were locked on the brigand who had just tried to take her to his campsite. She was rescued by a javelin thrown into his back by a young Pegasus Knight. Her friend, however, had leapt off the pegasus, and approached the maiden with a hand extended to her. "All safe now, buttercup," he said with a playful wink.

"Inigo?" the maiden questioned, she recognized the young man, and his lady friend rather quickly. After all, her hometown had been housing them for the past six months.

"The crying part is over, love," Inigo said, pulling her close to him. He grabbed her chin tenderly with his free hand, and forced her to look up at him. "Now give us a smile… And perhaps a wink if a fellow can be greedy?"

"Come _on_, already!" the Pegasus Knight complained. She was still seated on her pegasus with her arms crossed impatiently over her chest while she pouted. "You said we were finally going to take care of these guys!"

"Inigo!" the maiden gasped. "You can't really-"

"Aye," Inigo said, fringing regret. "But worry not! I'll-"

"_We_'ll," the Pegasus Knight corrected.

"_I_'ll mop up the lot of them and be back before teatime."

"You mustn't!" the maiden exclaimed, grasping onto Inigo's blue tunic. "They'll kill you and your lady."

Inigo tensed when he heard this. Him… with _Cynthia_!? How many other townsfolk thought they where _together,_ together?! The Pegasus Knight, Cynthia, however was having a good chuckle over this as she nearly fell off her pegasus laughing.

The maiden assured them that she could walk herself back to town. Inigo was still moping while he flew across the forest with Cynthia. She was about a year older than Inigo with her brown hair done up in a pair of pigtails. "Well, it serves you right!" Cynthia snapped at him. "Now we can't pull off that dramatic entrance I've been planning!"

"That girl was _gorgeous_!" the mercenary whined. "And she thought I was with you!"

"Why's that so bad?" grumbled Cynthia. "Why're you wasting time with girls anyway? We're supposed to be looking for Lucina and the others!"

"Why can't I do both?!"

"Same reason why I can't throw you off…"

A few minutes passed before the pegasus swooped over a clearing where a large campsite had been set up. A few columns of smoke billowed into the air from campfires; a large grin formed upon Cynthia's face. "There they are!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, Cynthia," Inigo said from behind her. "I think I just saw a griffon headed for town."

"Not a problem, we'll take care of that _after_ these guys. Let's go!"

Sometime, the Shepherds marched into the forest after Tybalt informed Chrom and Anali of a large campsite less than a mile away. He had also seen a pegasus carrying two riders headed right for the campsite. A maiden, however was quick to assure them that they were trying to help the village, as they had rescued her a short while ago. "This is going to throw my plans off course," Anali complained, seated behind Chrom on his horse as they hurried through the forest. She flipped through her book for something that could help them. "That maiden suggested that they were quite capable, so they could have taken out a good number of them, but there's only two of them. And one of them is a Pegasus Knight, so if they've got good mages or archers…"

"And it's only the two of them against an entire camp," Chrom pointed out. "They'll be grossly outnumbered. So are we, no doubt, even if we came with everyone."

"We need to keep the town safe."

"I don't disagree. I also don't doubt that the extra numbers would help."

They had left Kellam, Sully, Anna, Priam, Tybalt, Donnel, Liam, Gaius, and Elaine behind to keep the town safe incase the bandits retaliated. The group was lead by Lucina, who was rather uncomfortable about the notion, not so much leading the small group, but rather she wasn't in her parents shadow. It was something Anali had caught onto pretty quickly, though Lucina never said anything.

When the camp was in sight they could see a young man skillfully dodging the weapons hurtled in his direction. Overhead the Pegasus Knight was recklessly throwing her javelin at the brigands. To be fair, they were doing quite admirably for just being the two of them. The young man had impeccable balance, and he moved so gracefully he could have easily been the muse of a sculptor. While the Pegasus Knight handled her mount like she had been riding since she came out of the womb.

However the young man was quickly surrounded. Chrom leapt off his horse and sprinted into the camp despite the protests from his wife and lieutenant. Around them the remaining Shepherds charged into the fray yelling out battle cries and whooping. "Milady," Frederick said curtly with his eyes forward and his hand tightly around his lance, "might I politely suggest we forget the plan. I fear it's probably gone out the window."

"Well, we _have_ lost the element of surprise…"

Thank goodness Lucina was back in town. Poor girl would have had a heart attack when she saw her father rush into danger like this.

Chrom sliced his sword through the bandits as though he were cutting a kitchen knife through butter. He was headed for the young man who found himself surrounded. In one swift step Chrom drove his sword into the back of a man who was trying to sneak up on the youth. "You all right?" Chrom asked him.

Instantly Inigo whipped himself around revealing a rip in his sleeve, disheveled hair and sweat dripping from his brow. "Me? Of course!" he said nonchalantly. He then pointed at himself with his thumb. "It takes more than that to bring down a rouge this charming." Inigo paused for a moment to look Chrom over. "Now then, might I ask for your name? You're not with these brutes, it seems."

"I'm Chrom of Ylisse, leader of the Shepherds. We've come to deal with the bandits, so it appears our purpose is shared."

Inigo nearly leapt out of his skin when he heard this. "So, wait, then you're Lucina's…" he stopped mid-sentence and stared intently at Chrom.

Chrom arched a brow. "What?"

"Please don't stare at me like that," Inigo said, hiding his face with one hand. "I get… rather shy."

"Aren't _you_ the one who's been staring at _me_?"

"Right! Anyway," Inigo said looking back up, "as you said we share a common foe. Can I trust you to defend the town?"

"That depends. What are you planning?"

"I aim to crush the rascals who make trouble for the village, naturally!" Inigo said with a weak wave of the hand.

"Nothing if not eager," sighed Chrom. Granted he did sense ulterior motives, but there were other things to worry about right now.

Sumia nudged Rosella with her heels, her eyes locked on the Pegasus Knight who was throwing her javelin, then rocketing down to retrieve it. She had to admire the knight's strong arm, but this technique seemed rather reckless. The constant throwing of a heavy object made it easy for anyone to tire, and she was making herself a target by swooping herself down after it.

It wasn't until Sumia spotted a mage aiming a spell at the Pegasus Knight. "Watch out!" Sumia cried.

She hadn't pushed Rosella to such speeds since their first mission together in Regna Ferox. And like that day it was to protect another. When she reached the girl Sumia grabbed onto the girl's arm and forced her to the side. The girl's pegasus followed Rosella, taking its rider to safety as they dogged a Nosferatu spell. "Hey!" the girl whined. She looked up at Sumia and let out a squeaky, "Eep!"

"Hey, yourself," Sumia shot back upon releasing the girl. "You should know that peagsi are venerable to magic. If that was a Wind spell-"

"Run away!" Cyntha shouted, urging her pegasus away from Sumia. "C'mon, Rosella _go_!"

Sumia brow knitted together as the girl flew off to another area above the camp. "Rosella…?" she repeated under her breath.

Anali's plan was to use their flying units to get the jump on the bandits, but the instant Chrom ran into the campsite and the Shepherds followed everything went downhill. They won the day, if only because the Pegasus Knight and her friend had renewed sprits by the time the Shepherd's stepped in. That was the only explanation for their sudden bursts of energy. It did not excuse Chrom for his actions.

Anali was fuming.

Chrom should _not_ have run into danger like that, and the Shepherds _should not _have followed. If the commander acts rash, there goes the army. He was both the Shepherds commander, _and_ their king. Chrom, and by extension Anali, were supposed to be setting an example. This wasn't like the war against Plegia, Chrom couldn't throw himself head first into danger like that anymore. Things had changed.

While the Shepherds regrouped Anali marched straight up to her husband, who was speaking with Frederick. The Shepherds lieutenant had enough sense to step away from what was bound to become a marital spat. Chrom could see the fire behind Anali's eyes, had she the ability he did not doubt that she would have incinerated him on the spot. "Anali-"

"What is the point of making a plan if you're just going to run into danger anyway?!" Anali snapped. "We had the element of surprise on our side, and once it's lost, we _can't_ get it back! We were _supposed_ to give our flying unit's the signal, _then_ attack!"

"Inigo was in trouble," Chrom argued.

"And the plan wouldn't help?!"

"I don't think he was going to last much longer on his own-"

"That doesn't mean you had to charge in like the village idiot!" Anali snapped. She could feel the angry tears well up in the corner of her eyes.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Your plan was as brilliant as always."

"This isn't about the plan, Chrom! This is about the _Exalt_ and the _father of my daughter_ putting himself in danger like that! Weren't you the one who said that you didn't want to leave our children with a mess to clean up?" She paused for a moment and grasped her forehead with one hand. She wasn't calming down at all, and it was infuriating how Chrom didn't seem to understand what she was trying to say. "Yes, that was clearly the case for our daughter back in town, but we have a chance to fix that for our baby back home, and you're just going to paint a target on your own back like that?! Gods damn it, Chrom, this isn't like it was two years ago! You can't be that stupidly reckless! Unless you really want to get yourself killed…"

Anali felt the tears slip out of her eyes, the memory of the nightmare the plagued her replayed itself over and over in her head. Chrom with the volt of electricity protruding through him, then he tried to assure Anali that it wasn't her fault before finally dying. There was a bit of hypocrisy in Anali's little speech, and she realized it. She was scolding Chrom for doing something so reckless, but Anali knew she would have done something similar without a second thought. Because _she_ was the disposable one of the two. _She_ was the royal Ylisse could afford to lose. _She_ was the one Shepherd she was willing to sacrifice.

Better her, the horrid woman whose dreams were plagued with the deaths of her husband and friends night after night, than any of them.

She flinched slightly when Chrom placed his arms around her and held her close to him. She was at war with herself with her conflicting emotions, the anger and frustration she felt at her husbands previous actions, and disgust with herself for these nightmares she had. The nightmares that undoubtedly added to the anger and frustration. It was a vicious circle.

"Would you have act as such if Lucina was here?" Anali asked.

She hard Chrom hold his breath, which was answer enough. No. If Lucina had come with them he would have thought a little more before he acted. He probably would have stuck with the plan, and waited just a little longer. He realized what was wrong with that quickly though, he should have been thinking of both his daughter _and_ wife, even the people of Ylisse. "I'm sorry," Chrom murmured while he ran a hand through Anali's hair. "You're right, I'm sorry. I love you."

"Just…" Anali died her eyes with the heel of a hand. "Make sure you use that head of your, I know it works, I've seen it."

"Oh have you?" Chrom said with a playful grin.

"Hey," Anali said taking a cautious step back. "No flirting in front of everyone. We're supposed to be setting a- No!" The moment Chrom took a step forward Anali turned on her heel and ran with her husband giving chase.

Cynthia wrung her hands together as she watched Frederick and Sumia from a safe distance. She had seen Sumia hurry to her husband, only to trip just before she approached him. As though it were second nature Frederick caught her before her knees could even hit the ground. The sight made Cynthia's heart swell, and it gave her what she needed to steal her courage. "Excuse," she said walking up to the couple, "Sir Frederick, Sumia, do you have a moment?"

In unison Frederick and Sumia turned their heads to look at her. Frederick straightened his back, no doubt taking pride of this stranger referring to him as 'sir.' "Oh, hello," Sumia greeted with a warm smile. "You're the girl from before. Eh…"

"Cynthia!" the young Pegasus Knight exclaimed as she rocked back and forth on her heels. "My name is Cynthia!"

"What a darling name. Don't you think, Frederick?"

"Mmm, yes," Frederick said with a click of his tongue. Cynthia could see his hand rubbing Sumia's shoulder. "There is a nice ring to it. Like the lead character from one of your books, dear."

Cynthia's smile grew so large it could have perfectly split her face. "I _know_!" she exclaimed, bouncing in place. "_I've_ always loved it! It was a gift from the both of you."

Frederick's brow knit together in confusion. "I'm afraid you must be mistaken, young lady," he said kindly. "I'm certain neither of us have ever met-"

"But you _will_!" Cynthia said excitedly. "Isn't that cool? I came back from the future! Look, I have the ring you gave Mother when you married her!" Immediately Cynthia tugged at the straps that kept her gauntlet in place on her right arm. She let the bit of armor drop carelessly onto the ground as she removed the glove underneath. "See?"

On her ring finger was a ring with purple stones styled into the shape of a flower with a single white stone in the center. Gasping, Sumia grabbed Cynthia's hand and brought it close to her so she could look closer. While clearly aged it was a dead ringer - pun not indented - for her wedding ring. "See, you have it to me," Cynthia said bouncing in place. Her smile died slightly. "Or… you will. I mean, later. Before I come back here, but after… I'm born in _this_ time? Gods, I'm so confused!"

"So…" Sumia said looking from Cynthia, to Frederick and back, "you're our daughter?"

"And you came back with Lucina?" asked Frederick. Gods, Cynthia was the spitting image of her mother when she was a teenager.

"Sure did!" said Cynthia. Her eyes began to water as she held her arms out at her sides. "I missed you both so-"

She only took one step when she tripped over her own feet. Cynthia landed right in Sumia's chest, which caused her to fall back. Frederick caught them both before they could hit the ground. It was one of the few times he actually had to crouch in order to catch his wife. Clearly because of the added weight of both wife and daughter. "I'd say she's most _definitely_ our daughter, my dear," said Frederick.

* * *

Lucina sat in the tavern with a mug of milk in front of her, her leg was bouncing up and down in place. Her parents were off, battling bandits, without her knowing what was happening. Her mother's tactics were always brilliant, but humans were unpredictable. Chrom could still sustain the injury that ruined his arm in Lucina's time.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when a small pouch was dropped right in front of her. Gaius pulled out the seat across from Lucina and sat down. "Hard candies," Gaius said gesturing to the pouch. "Like 'em?"

"Uh… y-yes," Lucina nodded, "but I haven't exactly had them in years. You used to share your candies with me all the time before-"

She cut herself off. "Go on, say it," Gaius said as blasé about it as though they were just talking about the weather. "Before I died."

A very weak, lopsided grin formed on Lucina's lips. "You used to shared your sweets with the kids all the time," Lucina said with a small, nostalgic smile. She reached into the bag and popped a couple of the candies into her mouth. Mother and father eventually gave up on trying to stamp it out of us."

"Yeah," Gaius agreed with a thoughtful nod. "Sounds like something I'd do with you when your teeth grow in. So, Owain got my exquisite taste?"

"Sort of. Sweet's aren't exactly something we could have all the time."

If that didn't sound like a hell on earth. However, Gaius had enough sense to keep it to himself. "Give it to me straight, Cupcake," said Gaius, "how am I with this whole prince thing after I marry your Aunt Lissa? I'm not going to make things difficult for her and the in-laws, am I?"

Lucina stared at her uncle with an arched brow. "Why would you cause them trouble?"

"You know… We didn't exactly meet under normal circumstances."

"You mean your trade as a thief? Well…" Lucina gripped her chin in thought, "I was told not everyone was happy about Aunt Lissa marrying a man who was originally supposed to kill Aunt Emmeryn. But I remember you always fought as hard as Father. But I can't really answer that question, everyone was living in so much fear to be bothered with Aunt Lissa's choice in partner."

Leaning back in his chair, Gaius sighed through his nose. Of course his concerns couldn't be quelled that easily.

Somewhere outside Anna punched at a brick wall. The action made her shutter in pain. "Something wrong, Anna?" she heard.

Looking up Anna found none other than Priam leaning against the wall she had just punched. Odd how they often found each other, but it wasn't like Anna was complaining. "Yes, there's something wrong," she said calmly. "We've been in this town for hours, and I didn't make a single sale. My merch is just as good as anything this backwater town could find."

"Sorry to hear that?" Priam said unsure of what else to say. Didn't they have people to find and a war to fight? Anna's priorities sometimes…

Anna leaned against the wall herself. "Times like this," she said while she looked up at Priam with a pout, "a girl could use a shoulder to cry on."

"I'm sure there's one out there you can rent."

In an instant Anna dropped the wounded look. "I'll have you know that I may be pragmatic, but I'm still human. I need validation as much as the next gal?"

"Really?" Priam asked in a deadpan.

"Yes, really!" Anna smacked Priam in the elbow, his uninjured elbow. "Can you imagine being surrounded by people with your name and face? In the same profession?"

Priam opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't think of anything to counter with. He had no siblings to experience the glorious war of sibling rivalry. Nor had he met any one person who resembled him as closely as the Secret Seller's did to each other. But a with a large family with looks so similar, similar personalities, and goals didn't leave much for individuality.

He lifted his arm rather stiffly and placed it over Anna's shoulder. The Secret Seller felt her face turn as red as her hair. "This is what you're supposed to do, right?" Priam asked, a little red in the face himself.

"Huh?"

"I'm not good at this whole comforting thing," Priam confessed. "This is supposed to help, right?"

"Yes, but you're generally not supposed to look like you've got your neck in a noose."

His jaw was clenched tight, his shoulders were stiff, and he kept Anna half an arms length away. "I'm not good at this," Priam repeated dumbly.

"Clearly."

It took the entire journey back to town and a lot of mental preparation before Inigo could even consider walking up to Olivia. She was exchanging a couple of works with Libra.. As soon as the War Monk had left Inigo approached Olivia before she could take off. "Excuse me, Olivia?" he said. "Might I have a moment?"

"With me?" Olivia asked slinking back slight. Her brow arched in confusion. "Wait, how did you know my name?"

"A little birdie tweeted it out," Inigo said with a smug grin. A moment later his smile became more genuine. "So… is that a yes?"

"Um…" Olivia started to fiddle with her finger, "a-all right, I guess."

"Great," Inigo said with forced enthusiasm. He rubbed the back of his neck and kept his eyes on the ground. "You see… What I mean to say is…" Exasperated he tilted his head back and sighed. "This is surprisingly harder than chatting up other girls." He reached into the pouch around his waist that was clasped to a gold chain, not unlike the ones Olivia wore at her hips, and pulled out a very pink ring. "Perhaps this would make thing's clearer?"

A tiny 'oh' came out of Olivia's mouth when she saw the ring in Inigo's hand. Instinctively, she looked down at her own hand and found the ring Lon'qu gave her still around her finger. Of course it was, Olivia rarely took it off since he proposed to her. She smiled warmly as the pieces came together. He had a replica of her ring because she must have given it her son, him. "I see. You came with Lucina."

Inigo's face lit up out of relief. "Exactly," he said. "I always knew my mother was a dancer, you see. So I've been scouring the lands looking for all the dancers I could find." He shrugged and listed his head. "Not the worst job in the world, mind you. But, um… I finally found you. And my dancing is all the better for it!"

It was Olivia's turn to have her face light up. "You dance?" she asked excitedly.

Inigo slinked away with a reddened face. "Sort of, yes," he said. "That is to say, I try my best. But some people don't appreciate male dancers…" His face flushed further, and immediately waved his hands out in front of him. "Not that I care! I'm content to just shake my hips for the ladies."

"Oh, don't listen to them!" Olivia said grabbed Inigo by the arm. "I think it's wonderful. I'd…" she paused the instance she realized she just grabbed onto him. "I'd love to watch you dance sometime."

"N-no! Not possible! I'd be far too embarrassed for that! Besides, I'd rather watch you dance."

"What?!" the pink haired girl gasped. Their conversation had gotten to the point where it seemed like one was trying to out-blush the other. "N-no! I couldn't possibly…!"

"I'm shyer than you are, Mother!"

"I find that difficult to believe!"

The conversation came to a grinding halt after that. Mother and son just stared awkwardly at each other, both of them were very red in the face. Across the street from them were a couple of onlookers who were as red in the face as Olivia and Inigo. "Didn't think you could feel second-hand embarrassment this bad," Vaike said hunched over slightly.

"Indeed," Miriel said readjusting her glasses. "Try as I might, I fear I cannot look away. It's a disturbing paradox."

"We're not gonna be like that with our kids, are we?"

"Of course not," the Mage replied coolly, "not when I have so many questions to ask him or her about time travel."

Vaike list his head to the side in agreement. At least his girl had her priorities straight.

* * *

Chrom watched from the tavern's entrance as Lucina conversed with Cynthia and Inigo. There was a different spark behind her eyes that ignited the instant Cynthia nearly plowed her over in an embrace. Now the three were sharing stories about their experiences since they arrived in the present era. These kids deserved every happiness after everything they experienced. It gave him all the more reason to look for the others.

Sighing, Chrom spotted Anali, she was surrounded by books and parchment and Arun at the table with her. He wasn't sure if Arun had gone there willingly or if Anali had dragged him over out of hopes of finding common ground with him. Chrom was willing to believe the former given how Arun at least looked like he was sharing a few ideas with Anali.

Chrom did not trust Arun. And he knew better than to discuss this with Anali lest they get into an argument. But every time Chrom looked at Arun he just got the feeling that he hadn't been completely honest with them. He could buy Arun's excuse for turning on Validar, but he got the feeling that he had omitted a bit from his story.

Maybe it was the way Arun admitted that he would forget Anali even existed that rubbed Chrom the wrong way. The way Chrom saw it, if he legitimately wanted to get to know Anali he wouldn't have forgotten that he had a sister. But Arun apparently did. And then there was the Hierophant. Arun had to know who she really was, yet never said anything.

He couldn't talk to Anali about his concerns. Chrom knew she had all but given up on finding her family by the time their wedding rolled around, and she was so anxious to talk to Arun the instant she realized their relation. She wasn't going to _want_ to see Chrom's point, and they would just end up getting into a screaming match. One way or another he was going to have to speak with Arun privately and get the truth form him.

* * *

**Authors Note: **Guess what? Embers is official a year old today, September 4th! Many thanks from the bottom of my heart to everyone who's stuck with me so far, and will continue to. To celebrate I've made a Chronali (Chrom/Anali, coined by an anon on Tumblr) playlist on 8Tracks. Link to it is on my tumblr, URL **sammiewritesstuff**.


	32. Chapter Thirty-Two

**Chapter Thirty-Two  
An Unexpected Parley**

They _should_ have left more than fifteen minutes ago. However Nowi and Tharja were not accounted for, which left the Shepherd's ship docked while Sumia, Cynthia, and Cordelia flew overhead in search of them. Chrom was less than impressed, and waited at the dock with Libra who was equally unimpressed with his wife-to-be's antics.

Elaine held her hands behind her back as she traveled the deck to keep herself busy. She heard a bit of shouting and whooping from the back end. She found Ricken and Henry standing in front of a line of empty ale and whisky bottles lined up on a couple of barrels. Ricken extended his arm three time, casting a basic wind spell each time. The spells knocked over a bottle each, the third bottle shattered when it fell onto the deck, which sent Henry into a fit of giggles. "What are you doing?" asked Elaine.

"Target practice," said a chipper Henry.

"But wouldn't target practice work better if the target is moving?"

"They were at first," Ricken explained gesturing to his wind tome. "But they kind of got out of control and kept hitting everyone. So Frederick pretty much put a stop to it." He finished his explanation with a lazy shrug.

"That was fun," Henry said opening his tome. "But this is fun, too!"

In a burst of boyish exuberance he tossed his arm forward and blasted the remaining bottles off the barrels. With a powerful Elfire spell. Elaine saw herself two years ago trying to flee to Regna Ferox while Ylisstol was under siege. Elaine saw herself on pegasus-back and she saw the Elfire spell headed right for her. Regan had just taken the blunt of the spell, then a javelin is embedded into her abdomen. The Pegasus Knight falls over, Elaine grabs on, and the they land hard on the ground below. Regan's injury, mixed with her burns, and the fall was enough to kill her. The Elfire was the catalyst of her death.

Elaine shrieked the instant the fires dance around the barrels and it looked like the deck had caught fire. She stepped back until her back met with something hard, preventing her from falling off and either into the water, or onto someone on the docks. The boys looked up at her, Ricken looked from her, then to their targets, putting two and two together quickly. Henry on the other hand, managed to look confused with his eyes still shut.

The cleric kept her hands wrapped around her midsection, keeping her own abdominal area safe when it wasn't in any danger. The Elfire disappeared, leaving behind a puff of smoke that was blown away in the wind. It was only then did Elaine calm down and realized that she was fearful over nothing. Her face flushed out of sheer embracement without another word she turned on her heel and power walked away. "Ah… great," Ricken muttered to himself, rubbing one hand over his eyes. "I should've realized… drat…"

"What was that?" asked Henry.

"Elaine's friend uh… _died_ two years ago," explained Ricken. "She was right there when it happened."

"And?"

"_And_?" repeated Ricken. "Her friend died while she was right there, there's no recovering from death."

"Well, yeah, I know that," Henry said with a slight shake of the head. "I've got a few pals you guys killed two years ago, but I'm not whining about it now."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, like Mustafa. He always gave me a bag of peaches whenever I visited. He said I reminded him of his son and that I should consider myself part of his family. Wonder how they're doing…"

"Mustafa…" Ricken repeated thoughtfully. His eyes widened when he remembered a particularly unpleasant battle, just after Lady Emmeryn died. "You mean that general Chrom-" He cut himself off. Henry probably did not need a reminder of how Chrom completely mutilated his friends corpse.

"Yup!" Henry said cheerfully as though they were complimenting the weather.

"You couldn't have said that any more blasé," murmured Ricken. "I mean… you're okay with that? Even though we killed your friend… possibly even others?"

Henry shrugged lazily. "What good would it be to worry about it?" he asked. "You said it yourself, there's no recovering from dead."

"W-well… yeah, but…"

"This is boring," Henry said flatly. Despite the fact that there wasn't any bottles on the barrels Henry extended one arm, guiding his spell straight for the barrels.

Libra was a patient man, usually. But with the absence of his wife-to-be before they were to set sail had him rather worried. The fact that she was most likely with Tharja was just as troubling, the two were decent enough friends. But together they were bound to be looking for trouble. The Shepherds should have set sail more than twenty minutes ago, yet they still hadn't arrived.

The War Monk knew what he was getting himself into by asking Nowi for her hand, with Nowi being what she was, and who she was. Of course Libra wasn't about to put her on a leash until she calmed down. It was immoral nor was it how one cherished their life partners. And the instant Nowi transformed the whole notion would collapse on itself.

So, Libra waited at the docks with Chrom, who most certainly looked like he had a few things to say to both girls. After all they were wasting valuable time, they needed to be timely with this mission, as something regarding the war could come up again. Anali's latest war strategy bought them time, but Walhart would make another attack soon enough.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" shouted a youthful voice.

The fishermen and fish sellers were forcibly parted when someone knocked them over. Soon a short girl with green hair and a Dark Mage sprinted to the ship. "Where were you two?" Chrom demanded.

Nowi made an effort to avoid eye contact with both Chrom and Libra, instead she focused all her attention on the lock of hair she was playing with. "Well… see…"

"We were just running a few errands," snapped Tharja. "It's not a big deal."

"You had all of last night to get everything you needed!" argued Chrom. "And now you've left everyone waiting on _you_."

"It's not our fault the market was crowded!" growled Tharja.

"It is your fault that you didn't get what you needed last night, when you had the time to. You knew when we were leaving, yet you still wasted our time."

"But, see," Nowi spoke up, "Tharja just wanted-"

"No excuses, Nowi!" snapped Libra. "I would have thought you knew better than this."

Throughout Chrom's scolding Nowi was the one who remained silent with a nutual face while Tharja glowered at him. She knew they had a good reason for running late, and why they had to get what they needed _today_. Of course Nowi was also fully aware that the entire ship was waiting on them, so she was taking Chrom's words on a chin. But Libra's vocal disappointment was enough to make Nowi's lips quiver.

Tharja's teeth were bared throughout Chrom's speech. Like she _wouldn't_ have gotten her item last night if she could. But she didn't have the money for it last night, when she explained the situation to Nowi the Manakete offered to help pay wit it. Nowi didn't know this until it was almost tie for lights out, when the shops were closed, and the spell she was using it for took a bit of time, and this _couldn't_ wait. But she wasn't going to simply explain this, too embarrassing, Tharja wouldn't be able to face everyone if they knew she was capable of love and kindness, undeniable proof that she wasn't that different from them. A revolution like that might make her seem approachable, and Anali might insist Tharja spend less time on her work and more time socializing.

"We can't get back the loss time," said Chrom. "But you two can make up for your actions by cleaning the stables."

Tharja could feel the heat behind her eyes. Cleaning the stables, her? Not only was this way beneath her, but it would put her latest spell behind by a few hours. "Fine!" she spat.

She was not going to take this lying down.

Thirty minutes later the ship finally took off; they were more than an hour behind schedule. Sumia, the one who usually took it upon herself to care for the horses was a little disappointed to hear Chrom excuse her from her work that day. She had hoped to spend a little time to share horse care tidbits with Cynthia.

"Looks like we'll have to help out some other way," Sumia said wistfully. "Maybe I could teach you're a bit of healing magic? Or we could find a spot and do a little sparring."

"Can we, please?" Cynthia asked enthusiastically.

When Cynthia's eyes lit up Sumia could certainly see that she had her eyes. Big and expressive, if not somewhat filled with the naïveté of youth, much like Sumia herself before the war. We're mother and daughter," Sumia said looking straight at Cynthia, "yet I'm not much older than you… we could probably pass off as sisters. It's a little weird when I think about it that way." She smiled. "Still, I'm sure we can be friends!"

"Friends?" Cynthia repeated as though her mother had just said something to offend. She balled her hands up to her face and shook her head furiously. "That won't do at all! You're still my superior. In battle, you must not hesitate to issue me orders like any other solider."

"But you're not just like any other soldier," Sumia said with a slight laugh. "No. We shall be friends, and you'll speak to me as an equal."

"Truly? You won't think me too forward? You won't be insulted?"

"Of course not, dear."

Cynthia let out a sigh relief. "I told myself, if there's one person I mustn't annoy, it's Mother," she explained.

Sumia blinked slightly, suddenly questioning her parenting. "Am I really so intimidating?"

The light in Cynthia's eyes were ignited once more. There was an enthusiasm and passion in her voice as she spoke, "Well, in my time, you're a big a legend as Father! You were the most famed Pegasus Knight of all! There's so many stories of your heroic and terrible deeds. Like when you smashed through enemy lines to rescue a stricken Chrom!"

Sumia had to raise an inquisitive brow at 'terrible deeds.' True, she killed enemies soldiers when she had to, but Cynthia just made her sound like a beast on the battle field. "Uh… I did that?" she asked weakly. Now that she thought about it, that did sound something like her rescue of Chrom at the Feroxi border line. "But that's not how it happened…"

"Or the one time you argued with Chrom and slapped him right in the face!"

"That's not what happened either!" Was it a blessing that Cynthia didn't know that she actually punched him? Twice. Or that the second time was completely intentional. "Gods above, I sound like a madwoman…"

"Or the time you went into a blood frenzy and drowned friend and foe alike!"

"Wait, I drowned _friends_?! How is that in any way heroic?!"

"The point it, Mother," Cynthia said sweetly, "I was raised on such stories, and they gave me strength and inspiration. I'll get us a couple of practice lances!"

Cynthia pranced off; her pigtails bounced with each step. Sumia could not remember the last time she felt this perplexed before. It would appear that she was going to have to be careful about who she spoke to in the future. And she was certainly going to have to watch what she said to the Cynthia of this era.

Ever since she arrived two years ago, Lucina was always careful not to change too much. She had always thought if Lady Emmeryn survived that assassination attempt then destiny would have been completely derailed. And she most certainly did not want to completely change her parent's relationship.

Arguably the riskiest action she took was removing Inigo's father as Khan Basilio's champion and fighting in the tournament. But Aunt Flavia once told Lucina that Basilio confessed that he would have granted the alliance if his soldiers won that day. Apparently he was genuinely impressed with Chrom's pluck. So, as Lucina constantly told herself, it wouldn't have mattered if Basilio won or not.

What Lucina wanted that day was a chance to test her skill against Chrom. While at the time, she wasn't sure if she was ever going to reveal who she was to them, Lucina knew that the instant Chrom and Anali knew she was their daughter they would go easy on her while training. And she was right; sparring against Chrom Lucina was able to quickly realize that he wasn't putting as much into it as he did in Arena Ferox. Of course, so was Lucina, but she grew up with a Chrom who would sometimes drop his blade in pain because his old injury was acting up. Lucina may have prevented the injury, but she had to remind herself more than once that it wasn't an issue in this world. It was sort of the same thing with her mother, Anali didn't have an ugly scar on her back anymore, but she did have a small scar below her eye.

Lucina approached Chrom asking for a little 'training' session, and it took Chrom a few minutes to understand what Lucina was actually trying to ask for. She was good at fighting and not much else, Lucina would be the first to admit that. And she also knew of her Father's infamous habit of breaking things, so sparring was the only thing they could actually do.

"All right," Chrom said with his arms held up in as a clear sign of yielding. "That should be enough training for the day."

Nodding, Lucina slid her sword back into its sheath. "Thank you, Father," she said with the brightest smile she could muster.

With a lopsided smile Chrom let out a dry, humorless chuckle. "I still can't quite get used to that," he confessed.

Worried, Lucina bit her lower lip for a moment. "You don't like it?" she asked meekly.

"No, no," Chrom said with a wave of the hand. "It's not that I dislike it. It's just… different, is all. I'm afraid I'm still wrestling with the fact that I have a baby back in Ylisstol, and that child is you. I'm arguably still wrestling with the fact that I even have a child."

"I see…" Lucina said, staring at the deck. She bit her lower lip again out of discomfort, there it was, another reminder that this time she had was temporary.

"But, uh… could you not tell your mother?" asked Chrom. "You know how she can be."

Lucina had to cover her mouth to keep herself from laughing. "It always seemed to me like you told her everything," she explained. "In the future, I mean… you two always seemed so close and affectionate."

"Oh, come now," Chrom said with a slight blush. Granted that sounded like Chrom and Anali behind closed doors. His wife usually got so embarrassed, and she was always so adamant that they set an example for everyone. It seemed a little out of character for Anali to show that kind of affection in front of their daughter. "You make us sound like a pair of fawning lovebirds. I'm sure wouldn't embarrass ourselves like that."

Lucina's brow steadily creased while her lips pressed together in a hard late. "You say after Mother played quite the tune for you at the inn in Port Ferox."

Chrom felt the heat on his face as soon as Lucina said that. It did not help in the slightest that the memory of that very night rushed back to him. Wasn't it bad enough that they had to, and did, apologize for the noise to Frederick and Sumia the next morning. Neither of them thought to worry about Lucina hearing them. So what did that mean for the rest of the floor? Oh gods, they were going to have to be careful next time.

Mercifully, Lucina started laughing. "It feels good to be able to share secrets like this," she said. "It's been so long. You would always share little tidbits with me when I was younger."

"Was I really that furtive?" asked Chrom. He gripped his chin, hoping to hide his blush. "I hardly think of myself as a man of many secrets."

"They were just… silly little things," Lucina said fiddling with her fingers as she smiled warmly. "But we always loved to hear them when you had the time."

"So I wasn't so furtive, per se," Chrom said, "but more of a hopelessly doting father?"

He did not miss the 'we' Lucina herself seemed oblivious to. But, Chrom didn't want to push it, he did not want to bring up too many unwanted memories for Lucina. Besides, Lucina had a cousin, it was possible that was who she was talking about. As much of a stretch as it was. And Lucina was hardly the type of person to slip into the archaic, if not downright eccentric royal 'we.' "Well…" Lucina said through a grin. She played with her hair as she spoke, "There was one thing you never did tell me."

"Oh?"

"How you first met Mother..."

For the second time that day, Chrom blushed. On the surface there wasn't anything wrong with that story. It was a regular 'boy meets girl' scenario. But then you got into the finer details, Anali's memory loss, and the fact that she was covered in blood… It was very easy for someone to get the wrong idea. "That's… not the sort of story a daughter needs to hear," said Chrom.

"But it's certainly one this daughter would _like_ to hear," Lucina said sweetly. "And, you do realize I can always ask Mother, yes?"

"And I'm sure she'll agree with me on this."

* * *

Anali always liked Donnel's pumpkin soup, creamy with a bit of goat cheese mixed with the meat of freshwater fish. So, in an empty room Anali sat at a flimsy wooden table, with a lit candle, and her books in front of her. On the floor, right at her feet, were three empty soup bowls. A fourth was right between Anali and her book. She was looking up Valmese culture, and looking for any possible non-human, and non-Risen trouble they could come across. And Anali did find trouble, and while it was human, it wasn't on land.

Her book talked of a man who called himself the Pirate Lord Septimus. He was as he sounded, a renounced outlaw on Valmese waters. Purposively Septimus never left survivors, should he and his crew rob you. Anali wasn't sure if she was impressed by this man or not. If the book was up to date then Septimus had had a successful run for over fifty years.

They were on a ship, with several people who had some form of political power, and the children of Ylisse's Dukes and Duchesses. If Septimus decided to pillage the Shepherds…

Anali bit her lower lip at the thought. True, the Shepherds were a strong bunch, of course they never exactly dealt with pirates. But it couldn't be that different from land-based thieves. Anali was worrying over nothing.

Sighing, Anali leaned back in her seat. She had her arms wrapped around her while she tilted her head back.

_The Risen threw themselves on top of Stahl, preventing him from getting onto his feet. One of them grabbed his face and began pulling at his jaw. Another Risen pulled at his cheek, Stahl screamed in agony before a third Risen bashed his skull in._

_The fires spread so fast in spite of her screaming protest to not use fire spells. The group of Risen they battled against had tossed a few measures of rope onto a large, dead tree and started to pull. It took a bit of elbow grease on the Risen's part, but the tree fell right on top of the Shepherds. However Miriel realized the tree was coming down too little too late. If she was lucky, she was killed on impact. _

_All anyone could do was watch helplessly as Gaius threw himself in front of a young boy. A small number of arrows dug themselves deep into his back. He whispers a parting message to the boy before Gaius' weight forced them both over. _

"_This is not your-your fault…"_

"Anali…"

She screamed and nearly fell out of her chair. It wasn't enough that visions of her friends deaths haunted her dreams, they had to haunt her waking, too? "It's just me," Chrom said from behind her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and started rubbing them. "We didn't see you in the mess hall… And I don't mean to nag, but would it hurt to have a few more lights in here?"

"I didn't notice anything," said Anali. She closed her book and pushed it foreword. Her head tilted back again when Chrom's hands started kneading a particularly tense spot around her neck. "I didn't want to get in anyone's way, so…"

"But this lighting can't be good for your eyes. A few minutes away from your work couldn't hurt, could it?"

"I'm just looking up Valmese history and culture. I wouldn't behoove us if we insult the locals by accident. Given that one of us is the king of a foreign land."

"I still think the lighting's too dim for you to be reading in."

Anali released a bored, unimpressed groan. She felt one of Chrom's hands leave her shoulder to brush her hair away from her neck. She tensed, biting her lower lip as soon as she felt her husbands lips on her neck. As Anali predicted during their wedding night Chrom just loved to take advantage of this. Anali learned to love it when Chrom left trails of kisses on her neck, even if she did get a little overly giggly. It was in their playful moments, when Chrom tickled her sides and feet, that rendered Anali more or less powerless now.

"Alright, innocent bystander on the premises," Lissa said upon opening the door. "I'm just going to pick up Anali's bowls, because I'm on dish duty tonight."

Instantly, Anali shoved Chrom away from her; she sprung up onto her feet and turned to face Lissa. "I tried knocking," Lissa strolled up to the table, "and people generally lock the door if they want privacy."

"We were just discussing Valmese culture," Chrom argued.

"Uh-huh," Lissa said with the empty soup bowls in her arms. "And _I'm_ the reincarnation of Naga."

"We _were_," Anali said quickly. She opened her book and pointed at the page she left off at. "Like this here. While we're sailing it's probably a good idea to watch out for the Pirate Lord Septimus. Says here his the _Legacy_ is like a regular ghost ship."

Chrom gestured to Anali. "There you go," he said, "something right there we need to watch out for."

The girl stared at Chrom with wide eyes. Lissa's mouth fell open slightly, while Anali used her book to hide the lower half of her mouth. The girl exchanged looks as though they were silently asking, 'did you hear that, too?' "What?" asked Chrom.

Anali's shoulders began to shake; she bit her lip so hard it was a wonder she didn't bit it clean off. Lissa snorted through the nose in a poorly concealed attempt to keep herself under control. Somehow, Chrom's voice had changed as he spoke. It just cracked a first, but it steadily became a much higher pitch, far too high for Chrom. It was the type of voice Anali would associate with tiny woodland critters like a squirrel, or even a bunny.

"What are you two-" Chrom slapped a hand over his mouth, finally hearing what he sounded like.

Lissa burst out laughing, she needed to use the table to keep her upright. Anali gave in short after. She could see the flush of red on Chrom's face. "Did you…?" he asked, but found himself unable to finish. His voice was still very high pitched, and very un-Chrom-like.

Anali could feel tears in her eyes, she was laughing so hard. Any more of this and she wouldn't be able to breathe. She head a set of heavy footfalls followed by the slamming of the door. Lissa keeled over onto the floor, holding her stomach as she started to snort. "What the heck was _that_?!" Lissa asked.

"I don't know…" Anali wheezed out with her forehead rested against the edge of the table.

What the three of them failed to notice was a Dark Mage full of vengeance who was just outside the door when the change happened. Chrom hurried right past her while she smirked to herself, proud of a job well done.

Rumors about the change in Chrom's voice spread among the Shepherds like wildfire. He was met with much the same as with his wife and sister. The only two who had the decency to leave the room before yucking it up was Frederick and Lucina. Neither one would make it out fast enough, however. Chrom hid himself away in his state room.

"It's not that bad," Anali said rubbing Chrom's shoulders.

"Not that bad?" Chrom repeated as he looked over his shoulder. "I can't have a conversation with you without having you snickering."

Anali froze in place, sucking on her lips while her eyes wandered to the side. More than an hour had passed yet Chrom's vocal ailment was still as funny as ever. This had Tharja or Henry written all over it, but the most they could do was hope it went away on it's own. Preferably by morning.

The two were in their state room, Anali in her nightgown, and Chrom down to his smallclothes. Anali propped herself up on her knees while Chrom sat on the edge of the bed. She wrapped her arms around his neck and started to gently prod his right ear with her finger. "Yes, it's not that bad," she said, her voice low and sultry in his ear. "Dare I say it get's downright adorable after a while?"

Chrom's shoulders tensed and his breathing shuttered tantalized by the touch. It gave him a similar reaction as kissing Anali on the neck did for her. And it how she would quickly get the upper hand at times. "No one's… called me 'adorable' since I was a boy," Chrom managed to tell her.

He was confused when he felt Anali's arms uncoil around her neck. He turned around to find his wife laying flat on her back, twiddling her thumbs, and her lips pursed to the side. "I tried," she said quickly, "I tried and I know _I'm_ the who started it, but I can't see wooing happening tonight while you're…" She gestured to Chrom and shrugged. "It feels like I'm making love to an eight-year-old."

Chrom exhaled through his nose and laid down beside Anali. He pulled her close to him, and wrapped the blanket around them. He was careful not to speak again, or else they were going to have a similar problem.

Arun was on night watch with Lucina, just the two of them patrolling around the ship, and blatantly dancing around each other. Not only did Arun have to think of Chrom and Anali's baby as his niece now, but he also had to get used to the fact that her future-self was on the ship with them, and the fact that she was still technically his niece. Arun may have joked about it, but he was wrestling with the idea that Chrom was his brother-in-law. Heck, he was wrestling with the idea that he had a younger sister after nearly twenty years without her. As sad as it was, he really did forget that he _had_ a younger sister growing up.

Arun was definitely a stranger amongst these people. He was only with them because he was Anali's brother, and that was in name only. He hardly knew her, she hardly knew him, and they only had one parent in common. True, Arun had an interest in tactics, and that got him chatting with Anali the night before, but it wasn't enough for him to take it up as a trade, and it got to the point where Arun was just politely smiling and nodding at Anali's words.

He ended up crossing paths with Lucina as they were about cross the deck. Lucina took a small step back, her hand started to fiddle with a lock of hair while her eyes tried to avoid Arun's gaze. It looked like Lucina was trying to wrap her mind around her new Uncle, too. He supposed he could understand that, he was sort of the wild card as far as Lucina's knowledge of the present was concerned.

"Um… Uncle Arun?" Lucina said, still avoiding eye contact with him.

"Yes?"

"There's… something I've been meaning to talk to you about…"

"_Yes_?"

"I know we've only just met, and I may have no right in asking what your plans are," said Lucina. "You're not with us just because you can't go back to Plegia, are you?"

Exhaling through his nose, Arun leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. "Does it matter?" he asked at length.

"Yes!" Lucina said desperately. She leaned forward slightly as she spoke. "If you knew what I know you'd try to change it, not matter what it takes… I never knew you growing up, haven't you thought about the implication about that? Don't you want to change that?"

"I'm right here, right now, Lucina," Arun held his arms out at his sides. "Doesn't that tell you enough?"

"No. Because I have no idea who you are, and I don't know if I can trust you."

"Well, that's good, because frankly, my dear, I don't know if I can trust any of you either," said Arun. "This army may have recruited a couple of Plegia's Dark Mages, and your mother may be my sister, but I was the one who deliberately, and freely admitted to being a traitor to my own army. What's stopping your father from handing me over to Validar if it means he keeps his cooperation."

Lucina opened her mouth to argue that Chrom wouldn't do such a thing, but she was unable to think of a convincing argument. It did certainly feel like they were walking a tightrope when it came to Plegia, and the king's own son betrayed the country. "For now," Arun said walking pass her, "just trust that I want to see our common enemy destroyed as much as you do."

* * *

Chrom's voice mercifully was restored by the follow afternoon, and the day after it was raining so hard that most of the Shepherds retreated to the mess hall. Each of them had found something to keep them busy, Sumia had somehow started a little book club amongst herself, Cordelia, Anali, Miriel, and Gaius, of all people. Cynthia was almost standing on top of one of the tables, eagerly describing a few victory poses for the two of them next time they found themselves in battle. Lucina knew better than to discourage her old friend's ideals of heroism, so she always took this sort of thing in stride. Even if everything Cynthia was describing for Lucina way out of her character.

Anna had set up a small, makeshift shop, which was how Sumia was getting her books for her book club. Her customer of the hour was none other than young Inigo. Anna laid out her collection of Chon'sin tea sets. "And I'm not even going to ask where you've been keeping all this," Inigo said while he carefully examined one of the pots.

Anna shrugged one shoulder lazily. "Been in this trade for as long as I have and you get a little creative with packaging," she said. She leaned forward, spreading her fingers out against the table. "So… looking to impress a lady friend?"

"Perhaps~" he replied with a cheeky grin.

The truth was he was just looking for an ice breaker for himself and Lon'qu. Inigo wasn't all that surprised when the awkward silence fell over them when Olivia introduced their son to Lon'qu. The Lon'qu in Inigo's memory was never a talkative person, especially to strangers. But Inigo figured that maybe getting a tea set from his father's homeland of Chon'sin was the perfect conversation peace to break the ice between them.

Of course it didn't hurt in the slightest to have a cup of tea with a lovely lady.

"Don't you think it's a little disturbing to flirt with someone older than your mother?" a deep voice rumbled from behind him.

The hair on the back of Inigo's neck stood up on end when he found Priam standing behind him. The stories he heard were true in that Priam was more or less the definition of _man_. "W-Who's flirting?" Inigo asked trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. "Just looking for a tea set. I-I like a good cuppa as much as the next man… Sir…"

"Don't tease the kid, Priam," Anna said through a sigh. "He's going to wet himself if you keep staring at him like that."

"You know what, I'll take this one!" Inigo said, collecting a black pot and it's five matching cups into his arm. Quickly he grabbed a small bag of money from his pouch and tossed it to Anna. "Keep the change, nice doing business with you!"

Anna held the bag up to her eyelevel. "Yup…" she said dryly.

She watched as Inigo scampered off, careful not to drop anything. One Anna was sure he was out of earshot, she looked up at Priam with a cheeky grin. "What?" he asked.

"Seems to me that someone's _jeal-ous_~" Anna said in a sing-song tone. "Couldn't just stand by while a strapping young man swept me off my feet, could you?"

Priam's shoulders jerked as the accusation. Damn it, why did this woman have to be so vexing? "Implying you have no problem with cradle robbing?" he counted.

"Ouch!" Anna said wincing in fringed pain. "Relax, like I'd let something like that happen. Just making the customer feel at home so they'd buy something, so you can just put away that green-eyed monster."

Priam roared, "I'M NOT-"

"He says with an adorable boyish blush," Anna said with an inquisitive brow raised.

He froze again, his sword hand began to twitch slightly. He could try to deny the blush, but it highlighted Priam's entire face. It as perplexing, Priam had no problem around the other women in the Shepherds, but the Secret Seller managed to stir up different feelings in the pit of his stomach, amongst other places he wasn't quite expecting.

She was a splash of color on a rainy day like this. A woman who could keep her head, and could probably bluff her way out of any mess. Granted the same could be said about most other Secret Seller's but Priam was much more able and willing to believe _this_ one in particular. Of course, Priam was also more willing to believe her if she was being honest than her sisters.

The door suddenly flung open, in perfect unison everyone in the mess hall turned to find Vaike at the door. He wore a rain-soaked coat, and his hair was touching his shoulders. "We gotta bit of company," Vaike announced. "Some ship's been tailin' us for the past half-hour or so. Teach thinks they're catchin' up."

Within minutes Chrom, Anali, Lucina, Frederick, Virion and Cherche were with Vaike on the deck at the back of the ship. The rain came down in fat droplets, with the harsh winds the rain felt like ice against exposed skin. The rain soaked through their clothes within mere minutes. Through the rain they could see a ship as black as night, with a tattered flag flapping about in the breeze. "Well, I'll be!" Virion shouted over the wind.

"You know the ship?" asked Frederick.

"We've heard about it," Cherche explained, "I can't imagine a child within the last thirty years who couldn't recognize the _Legacy_."

"_That's_ the _Legacy_?!" Anali asked.

"What's the _Legacy_?" asked Chrom.

"A pirate ship, my boy," explained Virion. "Captained by the Pirate Lord Septimus! Scorn of the Valmese sea's for the last seventy years!"

"_Seventy_?!" Anali repeated. She looked back at the Legacy. How on Naga's green earth could Septimus still be such a terror for this long. "But he must be positively _ancient_!"

"Father," Lucian said turning to face Chrom. "We should prepare for battle."

"I must agree with the Princess, Milord," said Frederick, "We do have several people of power on this ship."

"And Septimus isn't known for leaving survivors," Cherche added. "Our best bet is to retaliate."

Chrom looked back at the _Legacy_, which was quickly gaining up on them. Retaliation was the obvious solution, but the weather conditions did not make for an ideal battle. With weather like this he could see either side coming out victorious due to the sheer number of units that would surely fall overboard. But they were not given that much of a choice. "Right," Chrom said at length, "Frederick tell everyone to gear up."

* * *

On the _Legacy_ a young man in dark grey robes watched the Shepherds ship steadily come closer and closer into view. He didn't seem bothered by the rain, or the wind that caused his lone braid to continuously slap him in the face. "Excited, boy?" someone asked him from behind.

"Feels like I'm going to throw up, Captain," said the young man.

Septimus tossed his head back and laughed. He slapped his hand against the youths back. "I'd be a bit nervous if I were meeting my brother for the first time in ten years."

"Yeah…" the boy said looking back at the Shepherd's ship, "my brother…"

* * *

She nearly slipped twice thanks to the water flooding the deck. She was already drenched, so actually falling wouldn't have made that much of a difference. Thanks to the wind, Sumia's hair constantly smacked her in the face, one of the many reasons why she was grateful for Anali's suggestion to _not_ fly in this weather. Getting shot out of the sky, then drowning sounded like a very unpleasant way to go.

Pirates, it sounded like high adventure on the surface, but this ship had quite the reputation, and several decades worth of history behind it. An her husband diced that he needed to stay with Chrom. Sumia agreed without hesitation, and she had played to follow his example and stay with Anali. But she still worried for him. As strong and resilient as Frederick was he was not immortal and pirates were not exactly known for being morally sound.

"Sumia!" Anali called as she hurried to her side. She held her coat close to her, though the heavy rain had soaked right through the fabric. "Have you seen Cynthia? I'm thinking it might do her good to team up with Lucina while she's grounded."

"Last I checked," Sumia said over the wind, "she was getting a lance from the armory!"

In some ways Sumia was envious of her daughter's enthusiasm, and certainly hoped that the present Cynthia would be just as enthusiastic as she grows up. "Mother, Mother, Mother!" Cynthia, speak of the devil, shouted while she half-ran up to the two, carrying a couple of killer lances in her arms. "I've got us a couple of- EEK!"

She tripped over herself and fell right into her mother and Anali, hurtling all three of them into one of the lifeboats.

Pirates? They were about to battle pirates? Well, Liam could think of worse ways to spend the day. Battling in miserable weather for one, oh, wait. Okay, to be fair none of them had any control over the weather, or anyone on the _Legacy_. Still, this Septimus had to be older than dirt if he had been around for seventy years. "Somehow, I get the feeling the elements are going to kick our asses more than the enemy," Liam said thinking out loud.

"No kidding," Vaike said with an axe slung over his shoulder. "My hand are so cold my finger's are practically numb. I need to keep looking to make sure my ring's still on."

Liam had to nod in agreement. His own wedding ring felt like ice against his skin, and with this much water, it could easily slide off without Liam ever realizing it. "Hey," Chrom called as he approached the two. "Either of you seen Anali? We need a strateg-"

"Milord!" shouted Frederick. He fought against the wind with each step. "The _Legacy_ is right on top of us, but an odd turn of events just happened."

"What do you mean?"

"The _Legacy_ has raised the white flag."

"What?" the three young men chorused.

Sure enough, the Legacy glided into view with it's crew crowded together behind a middle-aged man in the armor of a wyvern rider standing in front of them. He kept his arms behind his back making himself seem dignified. When the man caught sight of Chrom the man spoke up, making sure to project his voice, "I am Domingo, first mate of the _Legacy_. I speak for Captain Septimus, who offers parley the Exalt Chrom."

Immediately Chrom exchanged looks with Frederick. On the one hand it wasn't the battle they were expecting, which was good, avoiding battle was always good. But parley wasn't exactly what any of them were expecting from someone as infamous as Septimus. What happened to 'not being known for taking prisoners?'

"Very well," said Chrom, "if you have a plank, we'll be right-"

"I'm afraid I'll have to stop you right there, Your Grace," said Domingo. "Septimus only requested _you_. No more, no less."

"Well," Frederick said calmly, "you can tell Captain Septimus-"

"Fine then," Chrom cut him off. "If you have a plank, _I'll_ be right over."

"Wait, Father!" Lucina pushed her way through the Shepherds. Her hair had lost its volume, making her look like a drowned rat. "You can't think this is a good idea! At least convince them to let Sir Frederick-"

"It's going to be fine, Lucina," Chrom said patting her on the shoulder. "I'll be back before you even realize I'm gone."

"But…"

"Just find your mother, and let her know what's going on."

"But…"

A couple of the Legacy's crewmen leveled a plank between the two ships. "Won't be long," Chrom said giving his daughter another pat on the shoulder.

He had thought that walking across the plank would be easy enough, but Chrom didn't quite count on the harsh winds. When he set foot on the Legacy the plank was pulled back, no doubt meant to keep someone from following him. "This way, Your Grace," Domingo said, gesturing for Chrom to follow.

The first mate lead Chrom to the captains quarters. The first thing he noticed was how warm the room was after he spent the better part of an hour being pounded on by the rain. There were two men inside, one of them nearly sent Chrom flying back out of pure shook. He was a giant of a man, at about seven and a half feet. He stood still with his eyes on Chrom in a bout of boyish curiosity. There was a desk, with one chair right behind it, and one in front of it. At the side was a mantel place, though with no fire. The mantel seemed like a glorified coat rack given the coats that were hung up on it's corners. Seated behind the desk was Septimus, not an ancient, decrepit man like anyone had suspected, but a younger man in his thirties. His beard was neatly kept, and his long golden brown hair was pulled back. "Your Grace," Septimus said as he stood up. He gestured to the chair in front of the desk. "Take a seat."

"If it's all the same," Chrom said crossing his arms over his chest, "I'd rather stand."

Septimus shrugged lazily. "Very well, suit yourself." He sat back down. "Can't say I don't understand, but…"

"I was under the impression you had something to discuss. However, I'm afraid I don't see what that something could be."

Septimus leaned back in his chair, and prompted his feet up on his desk. "I'll tell you the Legacy is built up from the various men of Valm," he said calmly. "Some of them had taken their families and fled to free themselves of Walhart's iron fist. And if you want to hide something, sometimes the best place to do so is the sea."

Chrom blinked, once… twice… thrice… "Are you… suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" he asked using one hand to speak with him.

"If you think I'm suggesting the Legacy aids these refugees, then yes!" Septimus said with a broad smile. "Don't misunderstand, Your Grace, we'll plunder ships… Walhart's ships, but ships al the same. So long as this war lasts, that is. Once this war is over everyone's free game."

"How noble…" Chrom said dryly.

"Now, with this in mind, Your Grace-"

"You can drop the formalities."

"Very well. With this in mind, the Legacy will offer her cooperation in your campaign."

Chrom's brow rose when he heard this. This… this could go either way, really. After all, Septimus just admitted that he intended to pillage ships once the war was over. And an alliance with a group of thieves didn't seem like a such a good idea on paper. "And what would this cooperation entail?" Chrom asked.

"Our ships, for one," Septimus said, lowering his feet from the desk before he leaned forward. "We do in fact have more than just the _Legacy_, so if you need more of a navel fleet, here you go. We also have men more than willing to counter the Conqueror. And provisions, we have stocks set up all over Valm, you can have all the provisions you need without pay."

This was enough to nearly get Chrom to sit down. They had sacrificed half of Plegia's ships in the last attack, and it took down Walhart's fleet. But that wasn't going to assure the end of it all. Walhart could very easily send more ships to Ferox, and, by extension, Ylisse. "I…" Chrom's voice trailed off. "I need a second opinion. I know you asked for just me, but I can't make a dissection without discussing this with my tactician."

Pursing his lips, Septimus sat back in his chair with his fingers steepled together. "Very well, I'll allow it," he said before he snapped his fingers at the giant. "Andre, be a gentleman and fetch the Exalt's lady tactician."

"And what makes you so sure-"

"We need to keep up to date on the goings on in the world, Your Grace," Septimus explained as Andre left the room without a word.

Chrom's brow knit together when he heard this. So that probably meant that Septimus already knew his tactician was also his wife.

Her head hurt, she must have hit it against one of the seats in the fall. Her tunic, and coat had ridden up in the fall, which left for more skin to be exposed to the rain. "Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Cynthia repeated as she tried to untangle herself from mess she created.

"It's okay, dear," Sumia said sitting herself up. "Nothing broken. Right Anali?"

"Yeah…" Anali said rubbing the back of her head as she sat up. "Dangerous conditions, after all."

"But, not only did I knock down my Mother, but Lucina's mother as well!" Cynthia said, her voice high pitched and squeaky. "Oooh boy, that's hardly heroic… what'll Father and Luci say?"

"They'll understand it was an accident," Sumia said while she climbed out of the life boat. "Don't worry, it happens to me all the time, your father's used to it."

Anali struggled to get off her back so she could climb out. As soon as she climbed onto her feet Anali almost fell over again out of surprise. Pain shot up through her ankle as soon as she put weight on it. Drat, she must have twisted it in that fall. What would Cynthia say if she knew? Poor girl would beat herself up over it. "Here," Sumia offered her hand to Anali, "I'll help you-"

"Eep!" Cynthia squeaked.

In perfect unison Sumia and Anali turned their heads to find a near-literal giant of a man walking up to them. Each step shook the deck, and all three ladies could do was stare at him like some kind of skeptical. "Any of you ladies a tactician?" Andre asked with a voice so deep Anali was sure her heart was where her spleen was supposed to be.

Stupidly, Anali raised her hand like a child in class. Careful Andre lifted Anali up, successfully, and securely carrying her in one arm. "Captain wishes to speak with you," Andre explained.

"Oh… kay…" Anali said weakly.

That his been Chrom carrying her from one ship to the other, odds were Anali would be protesting the entire way over. Someone would get the wrong idea. Yes, they were married, but they were supposed to be setting an example. But now, being carried onto the _Legacy_ by Andre, Anali was more confused than anything. She knew she was shaking as Andre crossed the plank onto the _Legacy_, but that was less from fear, and more because she was freezing. Her tunic and slacks were clinging to her figure, and her coat felt so bulky now.

Anali was vaguely aware of the _Legacy_ crewmen who stared at them as they passed. She wasn't sure if they were staring at her, the drowned rat, or the both of them. She was willing to believe it either way. When they arrived in the captains quarters Andre gently placed Anali into the empty seat in front of Septimus. He reached up for the vest hung up on the mantel and draped it around Anali's shoulders.

Septimus stared at the giant with an inquisitive brow. "Lady tactician is cold," Andre explained simply.

"Great, thanks, I got it," Chrom said weaving himself between Andre and Anali. He placed his hands on his wife's shoulders, while he glared at Andre.

"Oh, brother…" muttered Anali. "Chrom what's going on?"

"Captain Septimus is offering his assistance," Chrom said while he rubbed warmth into Anali's shoulders.

"Really?" Anali questioned staring at the pirate captain. "Why?"

Between the Captain and the Exalt Anali was given a brief run down of their conversation. "Even provisions?" Anali asked in awe. "And… how many men are you offering?"

"Well, milady," Septimus said steepling his fingers, "last I checked we had three thousand volunteers."

"Three…"

"It's an impressive number," Chrom said, now rubbing Anali's arms. "I was tempted to agree with him, but I wanted your opinion before anything is decided.

Anali sat back in the chair in thought. "Honestly…" she said at length, "I'm not sure if I can trust you, Captain. I can't trust if you will be true to your word, because you couldn't _possibly_ be Septimus. The Pirate Lord's legacy and your age do not add up."

Septimus' brow knitted together like he was angry. Chrom immediately stood in front of his wife with one hand over the Falchion. But Septimus burst out laughing, much to Chrom's surprise. "Yes, I suppose it wouldn't add up," said Septimus. "All right. If we need to form a bridge of trust, I suppose I'll tell you my secret. _But_," he raised one finger, "what I'm about to tell you does not leave this room. Andre, you might watching the door?"

"Could probably block a few from the rain," Andre said as he left the room.

Septimus rose to his feet and placed his hands behind his back. "It is as you've said, milady," he said after a pregnant pause. "I couldn't possibly be Septimus at my age. As a matter of fact, I'm _not_ the Pirate Lord Septimus."

The husband and wife duo exchanged looks. "My name is Conrad," the captain explained. "And my predecessor was called Westley. Before him was Benedict."

"Wait, what are you saying?" Chrom asked. "Septimus is just some sort of pseudonym?"

"Exactly!" Septimus, or rather Conrad, said with a snap of the fingers. "When the original Septimus made his fortune he passed his name onto a successor of his choosing, and retired in luxury. The new Septimus would have his run, choose a successor, stick with him for a year or so as his first mate, then that Septimus would do the same, and so on for seventy years."

"Oh…" Anali said in wonder. "That's… that's _brilliant_!"

"It is?" Chrom asked dully.

"Yes! Don't you see, it's the _name _that holds all the power. It's the name alone that sends fear up the spines of Valmese sailors. You wouldn't surrender to a pirate called 'Bob' would you? I mean look at what the original Septimus was able to do! Seventy years, and the Pirate Lord Septimus is the bane of Valmese waters! The man was brilliant!"

"Ooh, I like her," Conrad said with his glinting eyes on Anali. "She's quick to catch on. I like that in a woman."

"Yeah, well, she's married," Chrom told him bluntly. "To _me_."

"Chrom!" Anali shot under her breath. What was he so worried about? He said it himself, she married _him_.

"Yes, yes, lucky you, keep your britches on, boy," Conrad said as he set himself down. "So, now that that's out of the way, do we have a deal."

"Well…" Anali's voice trailed off. "There is an advantage to having more ships and men. With how Walhart's been described to us we need as much help as we can get."

"So…" Chrom inquired.

"The Captain did explain himself… So I think this should work."

The Exalt nodded, then extended his hand to Conrad. "Captain Septimus," he said, "we accept your offer."

"Well then," Conrad stood back up and shook Chrom's hand, "pleasure doing business with you, Your Grace." He turned his attention to the door. "Andre! Bring the boy in!"

A few minutes later the door swung open. A young man of about twenty walked in. His blond hair clung to his face and neck, and the braid on the left side of his face was coming undone. He wore grey robes that were lined with very, very dark green. He was quite young, but looking into his eyes it looked like he had a difficult time sleeping. "This is Ze'ev Benoit," Conrad explained. "He knows where all of our stations are, so he'll be a good help to you."

"Benoit?" Anali questioned. "As in…?"

"You're sure about this, Ze'ev?" Chrom asked him.

Ze'ev nodded. "This was my idea, so I'd say… yeah, I'm sure."

"Well…" Chrom's voice trailed off. "Welcome aboard."

Anali shrugged off the vest and tried to stand up. She only took one step before she needed to grab onto the chair for support. Ze'ev tilted his head to the side while Chrom grasped his wife by her elbow. "What's wrong?" he asked her.

"Had a fall on the ship," Anali explained, "might've twisted my ankle. It's _fine_."

"Oh, dear," said Conrad, "if you need we have-"

"I am perfectly capable of taking care of my wife, thank you!" Chrom said gathering Anali into her arms, ignoring her cries of protest. "Ze'ev just follow me."

"Yes, sir," Ze'ev replied.

Anali hid her eyes behind her hand on the journey off the _Legacy_. She started shaking again when she was met with more rain and the wind. She wasn't sure what was worse, having her husband carry her to their state room when they should have been setting an example to their army, or the fact that said husband felt threatened by basic human decency.

In the sate room Chrom helped Anali remove her boots, which made her quite red in the face. They found that her right ankle had swollen slightly. "Right," Chrom said running a hand through his wet hair. "I'm going to explain everything to the others, and introduce Ze'ev. If you want to, and think you can, change into something dry. If you're finished with that before I return, keep your ankle elevated. Okay?"

"Yes mom," Anali said with a cheeky grin.

Chrom shook his head with a smile on his face. He leaned forward and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I love you," Anali said breathily, having melted under the warmth of the touch. She bit her lower lip, feeling guilty once more for having those nightmares.

"I love you, too," Chrom said, rubbing her shoulder. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

* * *

So, they weren't so much as fighting against pirates, but working _with_ them. Sure, why not. Crazier things had happened. Liam was relieved to be back in the mess hall in dry clothes. Waiting for dinner he almost fell asleep in content. "E-excuse me, Liam," he heard from behind him. Liam looked up to see the new Dark Mage, Ze'ev standing beside him. "Can we talk… privately?"

"Sure, Liam said standing up. "You're… Ze'ev, right?" The Dark Mage nodded while they walked to a secluded corner of the mess hall. "Gotta love those unconventional parents, eh?"

"Yeah…" Ze'ev said drawing the word out. He looked Liam in the face. "Wo-would you believe me if I said that the baby Lazuli's carrying turns out to be a boy?"

Liam's face became hard, which caused Ze'ev to slink back slightly. "I kind of have to considering it's a fifty-fifty chance," the Bard explained. "But how do you know my wife is expecting?"

"You haven't figured it out?" Ze'ev asked exasperatedly. "You've met Lucina, Inigo, and Cynthia, but you haven't figured it out?"

The Bard's face relaxed slightly as he rose an inquisitive brow. Oh, don't tell him… "Ze'ev, look me in the eye," said Liam.

"Kay…" Ze'ev said.

Ze'ev looked like he might have suffered from bouts of insomnia judging from the dark circles under his eyes. The boy's eyes were a beautiful shade of blue with flakes of gold littered in the irises, not unlike Lazuli's. "You have your mom's eyes," Liam said with a slight shake of the head. "I'm not sure what she'll say when she finds that the surprise is taken from us."

"Sorry…" Ze'ev murmured, looking away from Liam. "I didn't mean to-"

"Of course you didn't," Liam placed a hand on Ze'ev's shoulder. "Anything to survive, right? I'm sure Lazuli will be proud to the man you've become. I know I am."

The Dark Mage's eyes glossed over. "But we… we couldn't save everything you fought for," Ze'ev argued. "How can you be proud of that?"

"You're still fighting, aren't you? You were working with pirates caring for war refuges. That show that you're more of a man than I was at your age."

Tears began to flow freely from Ze'ev's eyes. "F-father…" he uttered.

"It's okay, Ze'ev," Liam assured him. "It's okay, you've more than earned it."

Ze'ev allowed his head to fall on Liam's shoulder and sobbed freely. It was crazy for Liam to think that Lazuli was pregnant right now, and that baby was going to be this young man in front of him. Ze'ev was going to be just fine, he proved to be the bigger person than Liam was. The Bard who was afraid to be open with his comrades because he loved a woman from Plegia and was afraid of the backlash. The Bard who cared more about how he felt about the possible backlash than how it would effect Lazuli. The Bard who didn't realize how stupid he was being until Lady Emmeryn's death.

Liam's son had been fighting for a better future, and bared guilt that he abandoned the world the Shepherds once fought for. Yes, Ze'ev proved to be a better man than Liam could have hoped to be. And he was grateful.

* * *

"I knew it!" Anali cheered. "Septimus said his name was Benoit, and Ze'ev said that coming with us was his idea. Why would he do that, unless his father was on the ship with us."

"Honestly I don't know that many Benoits, but it didn't really surprise me," said Chrom.

Word spread quickly that Ze'ev was in fact Liam's son. The story also said that Ze'ev technically lied to Septimus, saying that it was his long lost brother with the Shepherds rather than his father. It was the best excuse Ze'ev could have come up with. No one was going to believe that he was looking for his father… who was only a few years older than himself.

When Chrom finally returned he brought dinner for the two of them. Nice hot mushroom soup, with a baked potato and butter, and a loaf of warm bread. Anali sat, warming her hands with her potato, while Chrom set her ankle. She was relived to be out of her wet clothes and itched to warp herself in the blanket. But that would probably have to wait until they both finished their soup. "Ah!" Anali gasped and retracted her leg on instinct.

A sudden shot of pain had caught her off guard. "Sorry," Chrom said quickly. "Rough hands, I know."

"But gentle when it matters," Anali counted. "Our baby can vouch for that."

She finished with a smile, but it slowly died when she thought of her little girl back home. Her precious baby who was being cared for by another woman. Little Lucina wasn't going to recognize her mother, was she? Anali lowered her head into her hands, which still held her potato, and tried to hold back her sobs.

Chrom finished wrapping Anali's ankle when he noticed the change in his wife's demenor. He placed her foot down on the pillows used for elevation and seated himself beside her. "What's wrong?" he asked gently.

"Am I…" Anali sniffled. "Am I wrong for still missing our baby when Lucina's right here with us?"

"Why would that be wrong?" Chrom asked, allowing Anali to rest her head on his shoulder. "They're two different people, more so if we avert Lucina's future."

"She won't recognize us…"

"We'll have more than enough time to make up when this war is over. We're doing this for her… both of them."

Anali started hiccupping on small sobs. Chrom held onto his wife, letting her get out what she needed to. He didn't want to say it, but Chrom was starting to wonder if it would have been better if Anali had stayed with the baby. When the weight of the separation hit her, it hit her.

When Anali's sobs died, she nuzzled her head into her husband's shoulder. "I'm tired," she said, "and I'm hungry."

"It wouldn't hurt to eat something," Chrom said. He placed the palm of his hand against Anali's forehead. "You do feel a little warm."

"Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if most of the others aren't feeling up to snuff in the morning," Anali said with a slight smile. Without missing a beat she took a bite from her potato. "Need's butter."

* * *

**Authors Note: **'Pirate Lord Septimus,' eh? Don't you mean the Dread Pirate Roberts?! This chapter could have easily been called _Obvious 'Princess Bride' Reference is Obvious_. And my apologies for no pirate battle. Given that Conrad said they were willing to cooperating with them in the battle against Walhart, and they essentially just dropped off Ze'ev I didn't see the point. Also, OC child, yay!

I've actually wanted to have Tharja hex Chrom since she found out about him and Anali, but it never really came up. And I don't think she had much of a reason to. But now, that's gotten scolded by him as well as believing he made Nowi cry, chipmunk!Chrom it is!

I do like that both Chrom and Anali have some skewered priorities as far as their marriage goes. Anali is it really such a bad thing that your husband is making sure you get from point A to point B without pain? I'm _**pretty **_sure the other's won't get the wrong idea. Chrom is it really that bad that a couple of pirates are treating your wife with human decency? You said it yourself, she married _**you**_.

Anali's separation anxieties… not going away because her baby's future self is traveling with them.

This… what supposed to include Owain's introduction… but it got too long… Next chapter…

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	33. Chapter Thirty-Three

**Chapter Thirty-Three  
Scion of Legend**

It was happening again, the same dream. The same damnable dream that hunted her sleeping and her waking. Anali was getting better at waking up in the middle of it, but she would still always see herself harming her husband. Then came the tell all bleeding through Chrom's abdomen. Anali woke up with a slight jump; panting she lifted her head up to find her safe in the stateroom.

Anali rested her head back on her pillow to catch her breath; she rolled over to find Chrom's side of the bed empty and cold. "Chrom?" Anali exhaled as she rocketed onto her knees. He wasn't even in the room; her initial panic started to return. "Chrom?!"

She wasn't quite sure what happened next, whether or not she tried to get up and was surprise of the pain in her ankle knocked her over, if she just fell off the bed in her hasty attempt to throw the blanket off her, or if she was just closer to the edge than she thought. Either way Anali fell onto the floor, feeling pain in her ankle, her hip, and her elbows, and tangled up in the sheets. As Anali struggled to get the blanket off her she was vaguely aware of the door opening and closing. "Whoa, Anali," she heard Chrom said with a clear hint of amusement in his tone. She felt her husband lift the blanket off her head just in time to see Chrom's dieing smile. "What's wrong?"

Anali knew she was crying, she felt it coming the instant she realized she was alone. _Because_ she was alone, and because she just wanted reassurance that Chrom was okay and he wasn't there for validation. "Where _were_ you?" Anali asked, hating how whiney she sounded.

"Woke up, and couldn't fall back to sleep, so I just stepped outside for a little air," Chrom said while he moved a lock of hair out of Anali's face. "It stopped raining…" he added as a slight joke. But Anali clearly wasn't in the mood for joking. "But what about you? Another nightmare?"

She nodded, hot tears started to spill out of her eyes. She leaned her head into Chrom's chest, her hands gripped the fabric of his loose shirt. Chrom rubbed her back as Anali hiccupped on small sobs once again that night. Anali wasn't sure how much more of these nightmares she could take. How much longer could she see Chrom die by her own hand before she did something crazy to make it stop? It wasn't even dying various deaths, it was the same one over and over, by her hand. And what about her friends dying violently? The same deaths over, and over. Gods, what was wrong with her?!

Chrom helped Anali back onto the bed before he climbed in himself. Anali was aware of the blanket around them, but that was nothing compared to his arms around her. It was something she loved and hated. Anali didn't deserve to be held by Chrom like this. Not when her subconscious thoughts were filled with his murder by her hands. But she simply _couldn't_ be without his touch.

What would happen if Anali was unable to tell dream from reality? What if Anali hurt Chrom, or even Lucina or _anyone_ in a moment of delusion? Dread filled her chest and her blood ran cold at the thought. She didn't want to think about it, thinking about it only made it worse. But, of course, the more she told herself not to think about it, the more she thought about it. The 'what ifs' swam around in her head, which only brought on a new set of tears.

Gods, she was scared. No. Not scared, she was _terrified_. And she was the one who needed conviction. What good was a tactician if she wasn't sure of herself? Some master tactician Anali was, reduced to a whimpering mess because of a few night terrors. Did Anali even want to know if there was a reason behind her nightmares? Was there a reason why they were filled with death?

Then Anali remembered a conversation she had two years ago. The former Hierarch, Traino unsubtly told her about a caravan that was chased into Elrond, and only one casualty. Anali was found just a few miles outside Elrond, covered in blood. Traino's implications were obvious. Were these dreams just the remainders of a sick, sick mind she had before?

Anali buried her head into Chrom's chest once more and gripped his shirt so tight her knuckles were white. "I can't stand how scared I am…" Anali whispered.

"Scared of _what_?" asked Chrom. He placed a hand under Anali's chin and tilted her head up, forcing her to look up at him. Her face was wet and blotchy with tears, and she did look fairly red in the face and warm to the touch. But that could have been blamed on the situation. "C'mon, you can tell me."

Could she?

* * *

In the morning there was a plethora of moaning and groaning. Save for a handful, most of the Shepherds were nursing something after standing out in the rain the previous day, Anali included. She sounded like she was perpetually plugging her nose, and she had dark circles under her eyes. She just looked overall frazzled.

Anali kept her arms crossed over her chest while Chrom kept a hand on her forehead. "You do feel warm," Chrom mused. He was pretty much dressed for the day, and he fully anticipated on cleaning up after the weather the day before.

"Sure about that, because I feel cold," Anali said, wrapping the blankets tight around herself.

"Well, I'd definitely recommend you stay in bed for the day and rest up," Chrom said before he placed a kiss on the crown of her head.

Anali let out a groan and pouted like a petulant child. The effect she was going for was ruined when she sneezed twice. "I'll see if there's a spare blanket lying around," said Chrom. He sat at the edge of the bed while he put his gloves on. "But, at this point I'm pretty sure you're assessment is going to be right."

"Of course it is," said Anali. "You saw how hard it was coming down yesterday." She sneezed again, this time producing a of bit mucus. "Why haven't you come down with anything?"

"Let's just say that Frederick's pampering is enough to frighten any ailment out of your system. Speaking of Frederick, he's probably going to want to take a headcount, meaning I really need to get going."

His wife pouted again when she heard this. She clung onto his arm and looked up at him with the biggest, most pitiful eyes she could muster. "Do you have to?" she asked with a whiney in her voice.

"Yes," Chrom said matching Anali's playful tone. "I'll stop by when I can. And who knows, maybe Lucina will even drop by if she's well."

"Can you bring another book?" Anali asked. She reached over the edge of the bed and fished up the book she was supposed to read for the Shepherds book club. Anali held it in front of her face so that only her eyes were visible. "I'm almost done this one and I don't have any other works of fiction with me. I'm sure Anna's got a few… given she's well."

"I'll see what I can do," Chrom said he leaned over to kiss her on the temple. "But you should try to get a little sleep. I know," he said when Anali lowered her book to argue, "being alone, you don't like it. We both saw what happens at worse last night."

Anali bit her lower lip. He wasn't about to press the matter, was he? "But…" Chrom said cupping one hand against Anali's face, "don't you think it'd be easier to try to nap during a busy day, than a quite night?"

She pursed her lips to the side. "Maybe…" Anali said before she sneezed again; she winched and held her head with one hand. "Headache…"

"More reason for you to rest," said Chrom. "Now, I really have to go."

"Okay…" murmured Anali.

He didn't want to leave her, Chrom probably could have played hooky for the day. He could just stay in their room and he could care for his ill, and frightened wife. But Frederick would have made a fuss, especially if Lissa was ill, and neither of them would have had room to breathe. That, and there was a very high chance that Frederick would easily see through Chrom's ruse. And now, there was Lucina to take into consideration, she was all to eager to please both her mother and father, but she didn't quite seem to have much domestic skill. As much as Chrom would have loved to stay with Anali, in the end she would have had an easier time recuperating without him.

He quickly learned that it was just as Chrom predicted, Fredrick was indeed doing a headcount of everyone who was well enough to work. In the end it rounded out to Frederick, Sumia, Cynthia, Chrom himself, Gaius, Donnel, Henry, Priam, Libra, Gregor, Nowi, Elaine, Arun, Ze'ev, Lucina, Lon'qu, Anna, and Inigo. The fact that Frederick was well was a surprise to virtually no one. Work on the ship would involve clearing the deck of water, then swabbing, emptying the flooded lifeboats, mending the sails, removing barnacles from the ship, and saving what provisions they had left.

Frederick was the only one with both the skill, and the guts to repair the sails, which left everyone else with everything else. Cynthia may have been the only other person willing to repair the sails with Frederick, but given that she had no idea what she was doing, was assigned to remove barnacles with her mother.

Lucina was assigned to empty the lifeboats with Ze'ev. Frederick's instructions were to tilt the boats over and empty them of water, then they would work on sloshing it all of the ship after the boats were empty. Ze'ev knew there was an easier way to do it, but the fact of the matter was that Sir Frederick scared his pants off, so he kept his mouth shut. "I'm afraid I don't quite understand your choice to join a band of pirates," Lucina said bracing her hands against the boat. "They agreed to help us, yes, but that's only because Walhart inconvenienced them."

In unison the two started to push against the boat. "Best way to travel," Ze'ev said through a strained voice. "Not all of us ended up in Ylisse and I wasn't sure how I was going to find anyone else. I'm surprised Inigo and Cynthia found each other. Push!"

"I _am_ pushing!" Lucina shot back. She groaned a little, practically braced against the lifeboat herself. "Yeah, they said they ran into each other about nine months ago. Cynthia said she mostly stuck around so Inigo wouldn't get himself killed. Ah!" She slipped slightly. "Come _on_! _You_ were the one telling me to push!"

"And _you're_ the one of us who actually has some upper body strength!"

"And _you're_. The one. Who started. _This_!"

The boat finally started to tip over as Lucina spoke. The princess stole the opportunity and put as much strength into it as she could in that moment. Finally, the boat flipped over onto the deck. The water splashed across the deck, and onto their clothes. Ze'ev nearly fell onto the deck while Lucina ended up draped over the lifeboat. Bracing her hands against the wood, she lifted herself up. "Got it!" she said with a triumphant grin.

"Great…" Ze'ev heaved, "now we need to put it back and do the same with the others…"

Lucina's bravado died in an instant, and laid flat on her stomach again.

Arun was busy lugging the crates of spare supplies from the deck to the mess hall. Between their supplies and provisions they were going to have to take Septimus up on his offer of assistance. More than half the crates were filled with water making way for wet blankets, ruined candles, and ruined bread and tomatoes. What could be salvaged was going into the kitchen.

He was carrying three at a time when he heard something clatter across the deck. When Arun took a step forward he put his weight onto something that rolled right out from under him. Slipping, the crates flew out of Arun's arms. He landed, chest first, onto one of the crates; he groaned out in discomfort as soon as he landed. "All right there?" Arun heard. "That looked like quite the fall."

Wincing, Arun looked up to find Chrom picking up one of the fallen crates. The Assassin looked behind him to find a training lance at his feet. "_Yeah_," Arun growled through his teeth, "quite the fall."

Chrom smiled as he picked up the remaining two crates. "Looks like you could use a hand," he said.

"Cut the act!" Arun snapped, he snatched one of the crates from Chrom. "What game are you playing at?"

"What act? I just wanted to talk."

"There are better ways of getting someone's attention."

"Would you have complied?"

"Yes!"

Chrom chuckled, a truly dry and humorless sound. "The thing is, Arun, I don't believe you," he said holding a crate against his hip. "And there's the over-all problem."

Arun's brow knitted together. "'Fraid I don't follow."

"I think…" Chrom paused for a moment then shook his head. "No, I'm _positive_, that you haven't been honest with us."

"What was your first clue?" Arun asked without missing a beat. "Didn't I already say that I was doing this out of spite?"

"Okay then, why don't you give me a reason to let you stay with us?" Chrom countered. "Frankly, I don't think your relation to my wife is enough reason."

"Oh, come on, bro, we're family. Only get one of those, right?"

"Funny," Chrom said after another humorless chuckle, "you had over two years to make yourself known to Anali, but you only do so _after_ the mask comes off. Lucina didn't want to get too involved for fear of changing too much. What's your excuse?"

"Well, you know what?" Arun replied with a shrug. "I'm here now. What does it matter when I said anything?"

"What matter's is that Anali's been convinced that she's a bad person, or that her family's dead until you showed up!" Chrom snapped back. "She finally finds her father, and it's Validar. And then we find you. You had more than enough opportunity to make yourself known to her. And you only did so because Lissa took your mask off."

"What's your point?!" Arun argued. "I already told Anali that we never met until that day. Do you know how often I forgot I even _had_ a sister? I can't even tell her all that much because we had different mothers."

"But what was there to stop you from arriving earlier? Anali's name had gotten rather far since the war."

"Why didn't I come by sooner?" Arun asked mockingly. "_Gee_, I wonder? Are you really that naïve to think that because the people wanted your sister's restitution that everything between our countries would have been as good as gold and better?"

"Of course not!" Chrom snapped back. Scoffing, he turned his head to the side. "Damn it, _my own _people had their own reservation to Anali when we announced our intent to marry. But for you, that's hardly excusable. We had two people travel from Plegia to Ylisstol to deliver Emm's body, and Anali was able to keep her head up, knowing that there were some whispers about her. You still could have come sooner.

"Yeah," Arun scoffed. "The son of the popular candidate for the election just disappears and appears in Ylisse. I'm sure that would have gone over well with both countries. I'm sure it would have gone over well with _you_."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Chrom asked in response. "You imply that I would have issues if you did show yourself sooner?"

"Yes, yes I do," replied Arun, "and I think you would have turned me away before I could even meet Anali."

"You really think so little of me? You people are-"

"I'm sorry, 'you people?'" Arun asked. "'You people' being Plegian's right?"

Chrom winced slightly. "I didn't-"

"Oh, but you did. Tell me, have you even realized you married a woman from Plegia? Or that your daughter can even trace her bloodline to Plegia? Or that your sister died for 'those people' just as much as your people?"

"Of course I have!" Chrom shouted. How the hell could he forget that last one in particular?

"You've a funny way of showing it," Arun replied without missing a beat. "The fact that you said 'you people' proves my point. Had I tried to show up for the wedding, you would have turned me away, and prevented me from even seeing Anali." He laughed humorlessly. "This is the sort of self-serving attitude I'd expect from Calhoun's direct descendent. The difference is your lot will leave civilians out of it."

And just like that, Chrom's anger died, the implication of Arun's words were not lost on him. Calhoun slaughtered civilians? No… no. Yes, Chrom always knew Calhoun was the one who started the invasion, but Chrom always thought it was more like how the war started two years ago, with Ylissean soldiers stirring up trouble so that Plegia would make the first move. He always thought the Plegian's were lost in retaliation seventeen years ago. But Calhoun's soldiers slaughtered Plegia's civilians? No… Emmeryn would have told Chrom at least.

"Oh," Arun said with a bit of humor. "So they really did keep some things from you in that ivory tower of yours. Honestly, the Ylissean royal family reads like a book."

Shaking his head, Chrom rubbed his temple with one hand. "This got out of hand…" he muttered to himself. "What I've been trying to say, if you know anything about Anali, _now's_ the time to say it."

Arun sneered. Like he was going to just spill everything; nothing good would come from it. And he knew for a fact that Anali would prefer it this way when compared to the alternative. A few more weeks of ignorant bliss wasn't going to hurt anyone. "Do you love her?" Arun asked at length. "Is that ever going to change?"

"Of course I do," Chrom replied immediately. "More than anything, and no, nothing will change that. Ever. But what does that have to do with anything? I doubt you're trying to be a good brother."

"Just…" Arun paused for a moment to mull over his words. "Make sure she knows that _now_, so she won't have reason for doubt _later_."

And without another word, Arun took the crate from Chrom, then continued on with his chore. Chrom, however, stood somewhat dumbfounded. Did Arun just suggest that Chrom was an inadequate husband? Of course Anali knew he loved her. They were married, they had a baby together. Heck, Chrom was going to get her a spare blanket because she was chilly and a book so she wouldn't be bored. And it wasn't as though Chrom didn't tell her when he could. Why would she have any reason to doubt his feelings?

Was it just tradition in the House of Fauder to pick a subject and keep tightlipped about it?

* * *

"Gregor likes manual labor as much as next guy," Gregor said as he lugged three crates of food over one shoulder. "But must be admitting, this rather tedious."

"No kidding," Gaius said with a scoff as he lifted two crates up. "Back and forth, back and forth. I mean, yeah, I don't want to eat the rats on the ship, but still, this gets dull after the third trip."

"Hmm," Libra mused to himself. "I find it all rather relaxing. Nothing like a bit of hard work to humble a soul."

"Actually, Padre, if anyone could stand to have a sin or two on their conscience, it's you."

"I will pretend I didn't hear you say that."

"Eh, perhaps we better off with less yappin' and more hulling," Gregor said as the three of them made their way down stairs into the kitchen. "Still be having the work to do, and we sadly short handed today."

In the kitchen, Nowi, Lon'qu, Donnel, and Inigo were busy preparing lunch; tomato soup from the looks and smell of it. Something nice and hot, as well as light and easy for the sick half to eat. Donnel was the one over looking the pots full of soup while Lon'qu was previously preparing the tomatoes. Now he was cleaning the knife he used to chop them with. Nowi was amusing herself by shredding cheese for those who might want it. And then there was Inigo who was carrying armfuls of bowls to the table. "Hi Libra!" Nowi cheered, waving her hand excitedly.

"Hello, Nowi," Libra replied with a slight, if not somewhat tired smile. She gave him the same greeting each time they came back with another few crates. Libra did not mind, though he did wish she wouldn't shout.

"We shouldn't have much more to drop off," Libra said while he wrapped an arm around Nowi's shoulder; the two cuddled together for a moment before Libra continued, "Then we'll be out of your hair."

"Shouldn't that be said from us t'you?" Donnel asked, looking over his shoulder.

"Either way," Inigo muttered while he laid out the empty bowls, "the kitchen's stupidly crowded. Hate to see who's cooking tonight."

Libra thought for a moment. Donnel had done cooking duty twice this week, as it should have been Stahl's turn for lunch that day. It was going to have to be shuffled around until everyone's ailments had passed. "That probably be Gregor," Gregor declared proudly. "Already planin' meal to beat colds out of friends!"

"And you're planning on soup, aren't you?" Lon'qu asked dully.

"How'd you guess?" Gregor asked with a playful grin.

"Stab in the dark."

The sellsword threw his head back and laughed before he headed back up stairs. Lon'qu glanced over at Inigo, who shrugged in response. As far as Inigo was concerned soups were perfect to have while sick with a cold. Something to warm you up on the inside to keep you warm on the outside. And soups were generally light and easy to stomach. As far as Inigo was concerned more soup was perfect for his cold-stricken mother.

"Bye, Libra!" Nowi exclaimed while she waved to him again.

Libra waved good-bye to the Manakete; he followed behind Gaius and Gregor; on the deck Gaius turned on his heel and stared straight at Libra with an inquisitive brow. "What?" Libra asked obliviously. "Is there something in my hair?"

"Just couldn't help but see how sweet you and Kiddo are, Padre," Gaius said. "I think you might even put my stash to shame."

"And what's wrong with that?" Libra asked briskly. "Nowi is to be my wife one day."

"Aye," Gregor threw in, "why wait for wedding to cherish life partner? Should be doing that at all times, no?"

"Yes. Thank you, Gregor."

"Okay, okay, 'love and cherish,' blah, blah, blah, 'till death do we part,'" Gaius said with a wave of the hand. "You say that at the alter, but then comes the prams."

Now it was Libra's turn to cross his arms and raise his brow at Gaius. "I'm sensing ulterior motives," he said bluntly.

Instantaneously Gaius' eyes avoided contact with Libra's. And the priest could have sworn that Gaius' cheeks had turned red. "Now that's just ridiculous, Padre," Gaius said with a bit of strain in his tone. "Why would I have ulterior motives?"

"Because the princess confirmed that you and Lissa have a child?" Libra offered. "Because it's only a matter of time before we find him?"

"Oi, first-time parent dreads," Gregor said with a lazy shrug of his shoulders, "happens all the time."

"Well, how am I supposed to know how to care for this kid?" Gaius asked gritting his teeth. "Given Lucina's age, he can't be much younger than Lissa and me, but I can't relate to what he's been through. I don't know what I'm doing."

"What parent does?" Libra asked. Three words he knew but never really imagined himself saying, given his own background. Honestly, in Libra's own opinion, he was the last person to give parenting advice. "If you ask I'm sure Chrom and Anali will express their own concerns about their child in Ylisstol, and their child here."

"Aye, pretty man is right," Gregor nodded solemnly. "Parenting is learn as go. And Gregor intends to do a lot of learning from the gaggle of little bunnies Gregor has with Panne!" He was grinning boldly by the time he finished speaking.

In perfect unison Libra and Gaius turned to look at Gregor. "You and Whiskers?" asked Gaius. "Since when?"

"Ehhh not quite yet. Gregor waiting for perfect opportunity, and opportunity not on ship that makes Panne miserable."

"Well, I'm sure you two will be very happy," Libra said kindly. "Provided she accepts."

"Gaius, you wanting to be good parent to child?" Gregor asked him. "Listen to him if he be wanting to talk with you. That _best_ any of us can do. But you're not the only one having these concerns. Far from it. You see, you know what to do."

He'd know what to do? Well, Gaius was pretty good at reading his gut feeling. Usually… if there was candy involved… How was Lissa with kids?

* * *

He was still talking to her. Why couldn't he just pick a book and leave her be?

And what the heck was he thinking? She was a _merchant_, and she sold her _merchandise_ to the _Shepherds_. She was going to have to speak with the other Shepherds. Particularly the men. And this was a married man. He wasn't trying to sweep Anna off her feet, he was trying to do something for his wife. Perhaps Priam was coming down with something himself…

"You think she'll like this one?" Chrom asked holding up one of the books.

"Of course," said Anna. She had her elbows on the table with her head rested in her hands. "A good romance for the fever, and a nice bit of suspense to cure the headache, them bada bing bada boom, she's well by dinner."

"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works. But I'll take it."

A smile spread upon Anna's face. "Two stars," she said with a melodic voice.

Priam turned on his heel as Chrom handed Anna the two silver coins, not wanting either of them to know he was staring. He wasn't quite sure how his pride could survive that one. But alas, Priam could only get a few meters away from them before, "Does she know?"

He turned around without fully realizing that he didn't have to, and found Chrom walking up to him. The book he just purchased was held safe under his arm. "Who's 'she,' and what would she know?" Priam asked, a pitiful attempt to play dumb, he did not doubt.

"You know who," Chrom replied. "With the way you've been looking at her… you're kind of obvious."

"Does marriage come with clairvoyance all of the sudden?"

"No, but the other day you looked like you've never seen someone of the fairer sex when you looked at Anna."

Priam had to smile inwardly at this, in away it was true. It was like Anna had ignited a special spark that he rarely, if ever, felt. Like a challenge for the first time, but all the more intense. It was easy to loose himself in it; Priam crossed his arms over his chest and thought solemnly. The intensity wasn't going to last forever. Every sort of feeling of intensity died down after time and Priam came out on top. "It'll pass," Priam said at length. "It always does."

"Maybe, maybe not," Chrom replied with a slight shrug. "But you're not the least bit curious?"

A smug smirk played upon Priam's lips. "Chrom, I've heard enough about your love story to know that you and I would handle this situation differently," he said. "I wouldn't have proposed so soon after confessing affection for the woman."

Chrom had to laugh at this. "I suppose you wouldn't," he exhaled. "But in my own defense, a lot happened in a relatively short time. I wanted to ask her while we both had the chance."

That was only partially true. Really the instant Anali said that she would stay with him he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Chrom's mentality at the time was pretty much, _'Why wait?'_ Chrom loved Anali, Anali loved Chrom, why wait? Yes, they waited a few months before they even settled on a wedding date, but why beat around the bush? Chrom wanted to spend every day with her until they died, he was sure of it in that moment, so, why not make it official. But, Priam did not exactly seem like the man who acted on his emotions like that. Not the more personal feelings anyway, not with something like love. Priam was a man who needed a little time to sort out his own feelings before he acted.

"If it helps at all," Chrom said, looking over at the horizon. "I can pinpoint the exact moment I started to look at Anali the way you look at Anna."

"Oh?" Priam asked, resting his elbows on the bow.

"It was shortly after my elder sister had died. I'm sure you heard about it."

"Honestly, I'd find it hard pressed to find anyone serving their country who hadn't," Priam said. "And if it helps, a lot of the Plegian's you fought the day I joined were amongst those who abandoned Gangrel after your sister's speech."

A very small, if not somewhat tired smile formed on Chrom's face. In hindsight it did make sense, but it was both heartwarming, and a relief to still hear that Emmeryn's actions that day did make an impact on others. "Anyway," Chrom continued, "Anali helped me find my resolve, she smiled at me and I instantly realized _something_ had changed."

"But you realized what that something was," Priam concluded. "Obviously."

"Yes, but it may have taken me a little while longer if I wasn't about to lose her. For better or worse I realized what that something was less than forty-eight hours later. So I'm sure you'll figure out what your _something_ is with a bit of time."

Shaking his head slowly, Priam straightened himself up. "Maybe you should put that energy into your wife and the Princess," he said, eyeing the book in Chrom's arm.

"Ah… yes, you're right," the Exalt said sheepishly. And he probably needed to get to her before Frederick did.

Leaving Priam to his thoughts, Chrom headed to his stateroom. In the hallway he crossed paths with none other than Frederick, with his armor put away and a bowl of soup in his hand. "Frederick," Chrom greeted with a curt nod.

"Milord," Frederick said as chipper as ever. "I though I'd bring milady her lunch, but the Princess beat me to it."

Chrom felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up on end at the thought of Frederick seeing Anali in her nightgown. Of course Frederick being Frederick would hardly react even if a woman stripped down right in front of him provided that woman wasn't Sumia or Cynthia. "Frederick," Chrom said bringing his free hand to his temple, "if something like this happens again, leave the food delivery to Lucina or myself. That also goes for Lucina."

"Milord, I've sworn to-"

"Okay, lets try that again. Would you want me doing what you're doing if it was Sumia or Cynthia?"

A beat later Frederick's lips pressed together in a hard line, and his brow furrowed. Chrom mentally patted himself on the back. as it would appear he had just made his point. "Very well, milord, point taken," said Frederick. "Excuse me."

The floorboards creaked under Frederick's weight with each step. In an instant, Chrom's conversation with Arun came back to him. "Wait, Frederick," Chrom called turning around to face him. "A moment?"

"Milord?" Frederick asked looking over his shoulder.

With his free hand, Chrom rubbed the back of his neck. Emmeryn hid things from him and Lissa while they were growing up, he figured that out a long time ago. But Emmeryn wasn't here anymore to answer the questions Chrom had now, not that he blamed her, but it made some things difficult. However Frederick, who was old enough to understand what was going on better than Chrom did when Calhoun was alive could answer some of his questions.

"What was Calhoun trying to accomplish with his campaign?" Chrom asked almost randomly. "He didn't just wake up one morning and decided to commit genocide on a country that hadn't done anything at the time."

Frederick could feel his hair stand up on end. This conversation was overdue to say the least, and ideally Frederick would prefer to have this conversation with Lady Emmeryn present. In an action that was surprising to both Chrom and Frederick himself, Frederick placed the rim of the bowl to his lips and drained the soup in two gulps. Then he seated himself on the floor against the wall, and gestured for Chrom to do the same. He sat across from Frederick so he could look him in the face.

"At the time I was at the right age to both understand what was going on, but still not _quite_ get it," Frederick explained. "For example, I heard that something happened to Lord Calhoun one morning, and he had been dead set on extracting the Grimleal ever since. But what I did not get at the time is what had him riled up so much was just a dream. To a boy of twelve, caught between childhood and adulthood the Exalt could never be bothered by something like a nightmare. The thought that Lord Calhoun might have been making a fuss over nothing was still unfathomable to me."

"A dream?" asked Chrom. "So… he really _did_ just wake up and decided to commit genocide."

"In a way…" Frederick said with a pained expression on his face. "Lord Calhoun claimed that Naga herself sent him a premonition of what was to come. Supposedly the Fell Dragon was to descend from the heavens and lay waste to the land within seven years of that day. Obviously that never happened, and I'm sure it would never have happened with or without his war, and, in my own opinion, I highly doubt the Fell Dragon would ever descend from the _heavens_."

That was it? Innocents died for a dream? Emmeryn died because of one nightmare?!

All that happened, all the bloodshed, the fighting, the expenses lost in the last twenty years was because of a nightmare. Even if the church saw it as a true premonition, Chrom sincerely doubted that invading Plegia and slaughtering its people was the first option presented. "But… Mother must have calmed him down," Chrom argued. "She must have made him see reason. She always had a claming effect on him."

"Yes, she did," Frederick nodded in agreement, "but Lady Silvia was rather blind when it came to Lord Calhoun. I'm sure Lord Calhoun could have murdered the archbishop in cold blood and she would have turned the other cheek and pretend that nothing happened. So when Calhoun's men killed Plegians, not just the Grimleal who were trying to revive the Fell Dragon since the days of Orev, Plegians who weren't even part of the Grimleal Silvia just smiled and laughed like she was having afternoon tea and cakes."

Chrom wasn't sure what to think when it came to this news about his mother. Out of the two of them he always saw Silvia as the epitome of goodness. And when he really thought about it Chrom could only think of one case where his parents ever fought. Shortly after Lissa's first birthday, and Calhoun saw for himself that Lissa's Brand never surfaced. He accused Silvia of adultery, shunned Lissa for she couldn't _possibly_ have been his child. Even as a boy Chrom saw it as utter nonsense, his mother never had eyes for anyone else but Calhoun for whatever reason. Those were tense days amongst the family, but it didn't last long, Calhoun and his mother died shortly after Lissa's first birthday.

"So Calhoun wasn't just slaying the Grimleal?" Chrom asked wanting to steer the conversation away from his mother. "He was slaughtering civilians in general?"

"Men, women, and children who did not even worship the Fell Dragon," Frederick confirmed. "It mattered not to Lord Calhoun, as far as he was concerned 'Plegian' and 'Grimleal' were interchangeable."

"And… Emm knew this?"

"Given her position as heir, I think she was _required_ to know the goings on at the time."

Chrom was vaguely aware that he had picked a spot on the wall and was just staring at it. Maybe he figured it out on his own to some degree. In his own head, it seemed perfectly within Calhoun's character to think so high of himself that the Divine Dragon would send him a premonition. But Chrom was the first to admit that he demonized his father every chance he got. Of course Plegia retaliated, of course they remember their suffering. From their perspective Ylisse's attack was uncalled for. They had done nothing wrong when foreign soldiers started cutting them down. It was almost enough to make Chrom sympathize with Gangrel - _almost_. It did not change the fact that Gangrel was part of the reason they had to bury Emmeryn, and his country had to clean up _his_ mess.

Had Anali been in Plegia during that dark time? Was that how she ended up in Ylisse, because her family fled the chaos to keep them all safe? "Do you think that's how Anali ended up in Ylisse?" Chrom asked out loud. "Maybe she was living in Ylisse in the years to follow the war."

Inhaling deeply, Frederick tilted his head back so that it met with the wall. "Please don't take this the wrong way, milord," Frederick said after a pregnant pause, "but I still believe that milady has some connection to the caravan incident two years ago in Elrond."

"Frederick…"

"Hear me out. We're both fooling ourselves by saying that Anali isn't connected to the incident. But I'm sure we're missing a large piece of the puzzle, something we were never aware of. Something we might never find the answer to, so long as Anali can't remember." He paused for a moment. "And perhaps she saw something she doesn't _want_ to remember."

Chrom thought for a moment. Given that Anali's father turned out to be Validar, and she had a brother whom Chrom couldn't trust as far as he could throw him, perhaps Frederick was right. Perhaps Anali's memory loss came from something awful she didn't want to remember.

But, they had no way of knowing.

* * *

Anali pulled the blanket as tightly around her as she could. The soup Lucina gave her earlier did help to warm her up, but Anali was still chilly. Her head was pounding in her skull and her eyes were starting to sting. But Anali was determined not to get any sleep, she couldn't take the dreams anymore. She didn't want to see someone she knew dying, she didn't want to see the aftermath. She just wanted it to stop.

But her eyes were stinging and the back of her skull felt like it was about to tear open, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to close them for a minute or two. Just to give them a rest, then she would see what would happen afterwards. Just for a minute or two and she was up for the rest of the day.

Just a… just a few… a few…

_The mug in my hands contains warm milk, maybe not so much 'warm' but it is definitely room temperature. I feel warm, even a little out of it. My stomach is fine, I doubt I'd be drinking milk if it wasn't, but I do feel rather cruddy. I rest on a mattress in a small room, perhaps a room at an inn but I don't recognize it. Finishing the milk I feel someone place a hand gingerly on my forehead. That person is singing something very familiar, the continued use of 'dilly, dilly' makes that evident. _

_The person takes the mug from my small hands and places it at arms length away from the mattress. They climb over me and rest themselves at my side. _"Lavender's green, dilly, dilly, lavender's blue,"_ she sings as she wraps an arm around my midsection and pulls me close to them. _"You must love me, dilly, dilly-"

"Cause I love you," _I mumble in sync with the other person. _

_The person at my side cuddles me close, and I am content. Sleep is about to take it's hold on me._

_My eyes snap open when I feel something wrap itself tight around my throat. Immediately I try to pull the hand off, but they hold on so tight I'm surprised I'm not hacking up anything. I cannot breathe, I hear my heart pound in my ears, and I think my attacker is digging their nails into my throat. _

_I look up to find that my attacker is a dark being, I can just barely make out their long hair. The only other feature I can see is three sets of red eyes._

Coughing erupted from her throat, worsening her headache with each jerk. Her coughing fit simmered down after a few minutes and Anali dropped her head back down onto her pillow groaning into it like a child. It was like her head had its own heartbeat.

She shifted her head to the side when she heard the door creak open. Chrom walked in with an extra blanket tucked under one arm. "Told you I'd stop by," Chrom said, walking up to her. "How are you feeling?"

"Ehhh…" Anali muttered while she sat herself up.

Chrom handed her the blanket, which Anali wrapped over her shoulders. She glanced at the empty soup bowl. "Lucina stopped by earlier," she murmured.

"I heard," Chrom said sitting himself on the edge of the bed. "I told you she would. Manage to get any sleep?"

"I don't need sleep," said Anali. Slowly, she climbed onto her knees and wrapped her arms around Chrom's neck. "We could always pick up where we left off the other night. I owe you." She sneezed when she finished speaking; with that alone Anali whimpered feeling another pulse of pain in her head.

"Not when you're sick and injured," Chrom said removing his wife's arms from him before she could start prodding at his ear. "You'll have to try again in a couple of days."

"Meanie," Anali pouted before she blew a raspberry.

"You really should get a bit of sleep if you want to get better," Chrom said, lightly pushing her back so she laid down. "It might help with that headache."

"I don't need sleep," argued Anali. Sitting up she crossed her arms over her chest. "Besides the instant I'm asleep, you're going to leave."

Chrom pursed his lips. Of course he was going to leave when she was asleep, he had work to do, inventory to take in, and rough plans to make. Sure, Chrom could spend a bit of time with Anali, but he was going to have to leave after a while.

Sighing, Chrom kicked his shoes off and climbed over Anali. "Lay down," he ordered, opening the book he just purchased for her.

"Why?"

"Can you just do it?"

Pursing her lips, Anali laid down on her side and wrapped the blankets tight around her frame. Chrom flipped the book to the first page; his mother used to do this for him as a child when he was particularly fussy at bedtime. Emmeryn had done the same thing when she could, it worked just about every time. "It seemed like it lasted forever," Chrom read out loud, "and a few remembered why it even started in the first place. War struck, and it struck hard, resources were beginning to dwindle. Disappointing harvest came after disappointing harvest, and soon men as young as twelve were drafted into the war. As the years went on there was no end in sight, the light of hope was going out more and more."

The rest of the chapter went on to describe a small village, desperate to keep their young sons safe from battle. But when a faction of enemy forces marched their way to the village the townsfolk turned to the local soothsayer for help. Could they get the army to retreat? Or should they have cut their losses and run? They were dead either way.

But the soothsayer gave the a small bit of advice. Go to the caves in the north-east. Find Tanis and beseech her for assistance. There were many rumors about this Tanis, mothers created little fibs about Tanis to help keep their children's behavior in check, the older youths would dare each other to approach Tanis' home. But many believed that Tanis was an old, immortal witch, or even a dragon. No one could really say if Tanis was even alive but, the village was desperate.

"A select few traveled to Tanis," Chrom read, "who was revealed to be little more than a young woman, or so it would seem by her pointed ears. 'Enemy forces come to our village as we speak,' the villagers cried. 'Surely they will eat us out of house and home. And surely we cannot fight back. Please, Lady Tanis, is it in your power to help us?'

"Tanis looked uninterested in what the villagers had to say. But she responded, 'You cannot gain anything from nothing, if you want you must give in return. You must bring me something I could possibly want within three days. Do that and I will be your village's personal champion. Fail and consider yourselves dead, for I care not what happens to you.'"

Chrom had read a chapter and a-half into the book before he tore his eyes off the page, Anali had fallen asleep at his side. Evidence of her cold was written on her face, with the mucus around her nose, and the red in her cheeks, but she still looked peaceful. She was laying on her stomach, not unusual for her, but her left hand had grasped the excess fabric of Chrom's top like a child holding onto their mothers' skirt. No doubt her last attempt to make sure he was still there when she woke up. It was tempting to stay, but he was going to be needed elsewhere sooner or later. The true frustration of being the leader of the haildom and the army.

But, if there was an upside to this little experiment, Chrom discovered a little secret weapon to counter Anali's night terrors.

* * *

Tharja didn't have the sniffles as bad as the others she bunked with, so she simply used it as an excuse to get out of working that day. Nowi and Anali may have looked down on her for doing such a thing, but it was for a relatively good cause. Granted her cloak was damp and disgusting now thanks to Tharja using it to blow her nose.

But with several days work they were finally completed; two black, obsidian looking, rings. Formally a pair of copper rings, drank and droll then, now they were at least somewhat beautiful. Now the real question was when did she make her move?

"Heya, Tharja!" Donnel called as he walked up to her. "Thought you weren't feelin' too well."

Well, no time like the present.

"It's coming and going," muttered Tharja. "I've been making this."

She held out one of the rings to Donnel. His brow shot up as he let out a low whistle. "That's a mighty fine ring you got there," he said.

"It's for you," she said quickly.

"Beg pardon?" Donnel asked, pointing to himself. "Fer me?"

"I made another one just like it for myself," Tharja said holding up her opposite hand with the ring already on. "The only two of it's kind."

The village boy's brow rose up even higher. Was Tharja doing what he thought she was doing. Tharja? Well sure, Donnel thought about it, but he always figured he would have been the one asking. "Ah…" Donnel said rubbing the back of his neck. "Well shucks, Tharja, sounds to me like yer fixin' to get us hitched…"

Gritting her teeth, Tharja hid her eyes under her bangs. Damn it, this boy couldn't make it easy could he? "As far as society at large is concerned, yes, we would be married," she said almost grumbling her words. "In practice, however, I want you to be more like my personal servant. I consulted a few books; this seemed the easiest way to secure cooperation."

"Books?" Donnel questioned. "There's talk about weddin's in those dark tomes of yers?"

"What became weddings at least," Tharja corrected. "You'd be surprised how many social rituals of today have come out of the dark arts. In this case, an exchange of rings forge an unbreakable bond. It symbolizes a solemn pack that two people will stay together until death."

Tharja was lying through her teeth, if only through omission. What she didn't tell him was engagements, or vows of servitude like this were hardly done amongst those practicing in the dark arts anymore. Today it was downright archaic. No, Tharja was proposing in the most roundabout way possible.

"Kinda sounds like someone's in love with ol' Donny!" he said with a large grin.

"That…" Tharja's voice trailed off as her face turned red, "would be another way to put it, yes…" she cleared her throat. "In any case, I would like your answer. Will you accept?"

"If you promise to love me all my life, then we got a deal!" Donnel said placing the ring on. "Collectin' bats and watchin' you cast hexes is excitin' as all get-out! I wouldn't mind doin' nothin' but fer the rest of my days."

"Excellent," Tharja said resting her head on Donnel's shoulder. "And I know you would never break your vow."

Because Tharja put a nasty hex on Donnel's ring that would hit him hard the moment he did.

Elaine leaned herself against her mop while she wiped her brow with her sleeve. The life boats were successfully emptied of water, which left cleaning the deck. With or without the rain someone had to be on swabbing duty, no doubt. "Meep, meep!" Henry shouted whizzing past Elaine with his own mop in front of him.

He had enough sense to remove his collar and cloak while working, but it still left him wearing thick layers. Well, out of the two of them he was the one from a desert country so what did Elaine know.

Swabbing her spot Elaine furrowed her brow in thought. Out of every Plegain on this ship Henry was the one who stood out a bit. Both Anali and Arun had the brown skin of the natives, Tharja however, was as pale as a ghost out of them, but Tharja was more of an indoor girl. Even then Henry was paler than Tharja. And then there was the names, Arun, Tharja, Anali, Validar, Aversa, Gangrel… and Henry. It was a very Ylisse and/or Roseanne name.

"Meep, meep again!" Henry said gleefully when he came back around.

"You the kind of person who enjoys doing their chores?" asked Elaine.

"Not really," Henry replied at a slower pace, still within earshot of Elaine. "But doing chores here is better than the institution. The only thing Frederick raises is his voice if it's not done just right."

"Oh," Elaine murmured, "well that's - _Oh!_"

Could he have said that any more casually?! No, no, wait. No. Elaine was just jumping to conclusions, Henry could have meant it in a more innocent way. She didn't know, she shouldn't assume. Of course how else was Elaine supposed to take that little tidbit? However, that would explain a couple of things. Still, Elaine wasn't going to make a bit deal about it. Henry's history was his business alone, if he wanted to talk, he could and Elaine would listen. Nothing good ever came from prying into someone elses closet.

The poke she felt just under her arm was enough to make Elaine leap back. Her mop clattered onto the floor and she nearly slipped on a wet spot. Henry retracted his arm, and his mop, all while giggling like a small child dangling a secret they knew over someone's head. "What was that for?!" Elaine snapped before she bent over for her mop.

"Well," Henry stretched the word out, "you were lost in your own head, and opportunity was knocking."

"You scared me! Didn't your mother teach you a thing or two about manners?"

"Nope!" Henry said popping the 'p.'

The Cleric froze in place. No, she still wasn't going to jump to conclusions.

Elaine resumed her work with stiff movements. Henry watched her fridged arms push and pull at the mop. Had he said something? Something to offend her? His little poke was all in good fun. Well, Henry decided he liked Elaine. She was rather funny.

* * *

She sighed into the mug in her hands, room temperature milk always seemed to hit the spot in the morning. Yawning, she rubbed one eye with the heel of her hand; then she started to jiggle her leg up and down out of sheer impatience. Where was he? He was the one who hammered into her that they would meet in the morning, break fast, get what they arrived for - provided it was even here - then move onto the next town to do the same thing all over again.

"Of all the people I had to meet up with," she muttered to herself.

She was about to bite into her bread before the door to the mess hall tore open. A young man with spiky blond hair dressed in the yellow garb of a myrmidon stood in the doorway. Everyone in the mess hall turned in the direction of the youth, all but the white haired girl in purple troubadour garb. She had grasped her forehead with one hand and was slowly beginning to sink into her seat. "The hour of glory is upon us!" the myrmidon declared as he walked up to the Troubadour in long strides. "Headed straight for the Sages Hamlet is a bad of thieves, if we leave now we should be able to drive them off and the legendary blade will be back in it's proper hands!"

Julie blinked thrice. "Wait, they're headed for he Sage's Hamlet?" Julie repeated. "Why? What for?"

"Isn't it obvious?" the myrmidon asked using his hands to speak with him. "They're after the divine blade as well-"

"I really don't think that's it."

"Which is why we leave now!"

On 'now' the Myrmidon grabbed Julie by the arm and ran. Julie nearly stumbled when the myrmidon pulled her onto her feet ad sprinted out of the inn, and straight to the stable. "Owain!" Julie argued while her companion pulled her along. "Wouldn't it be a better idea to gather units for a resistance?! You're the only one out of the two of us who's made for combat!"

Julie's please were left ignored. In the stable Owain leapt onto a stallion like a white knight. Julie, however, was pulled onto the equine behind Owain so that she ended up dangling off of the horse's plot. With a 'hyia!' Owain urged the stallion forward, all it did was spook the beast and he bucked back, throwing Owain and Julie off his backside. "I think _I'll _drive!" Julie growled, unimpressed with Owain sitting right on top of her.

* * *

Through the air darted three white pegasi, a black pegasus, a griffin and a wyvern while a number of horses thundered below them. Two days after a majority of the Shepherds fell ill with colds they finally reached land and docked a few hours earlier. The plan was to head to the Sage's Hamlet, but word had reached their ear that a band of thieves run by a man called Gecko had stirred up some trouble in the nearby village, and had the full intention on interrogating the Sages, a rather pacifistic group.

Anali's eyes went from the map in her hands, to the sky, while she held onto Amalthea's reigns in one hand Chrom's hands were at the ready. If Amalthea strayed from the path Chrom would be the one to put them back, which could have disastrous results. They were against the clock in a sense. Since the Sages wouldn't fight back against Gecko's men. The first thing they needed to do was protect the Sages. And with a little help from Cherche Anali had marked their locations on the map. "Cynthia!" Anali shouted over the wind.

"Yeah?" the youngest Pegasus Knight called gliding beside Anali and Chrom.

"When we get there I need you to guard the Sage living South-east!" Anali instructed. "Think you can stick with her, Lucina?"

Seated behind Cynthia, Lucina nodded. "Of course!"

"I'll take care of the Sage at the South-west," Cherche called flying on the opposite side of Anali. "He's the elder and he knows me."

"All right!" Anali shouted. "I want you to pair up with Virion and be the one to take out their leader. He's likely to target the elder."

A mile away from the village the flying units continued on the ground. By a stroke of luck Gecko's men had not seen them yet. Gecko was a scrawny man in Assassin garb. He shoved a maiden onto her knees. "Alright, last chance!" Gecko shouted. "Tell me which one has it, and I might let you live."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" the maiden snapped back.

"Oh?" Gecko asked, just mildly bemused. He turned on his. "Then I guess we're done with this one." He snapped his fingers. "Boys."

On cue, one of Gecko's Barbarians cracked his knuckles and eyed the maiden. Slowly, he removed his axe from it's sling. The maiden had visibly stiffened but did not react as the Barbarian rose his axe above his head.

Anali felt Chrom hurry off Amalthea and heard the sharp _shing_ of Falchion being partially taken out of it's hilt.

"Halt fiends!" shouted a new voice.

In a flash a horse carrying a Troubadour and a Myrmidon burst onto the scene. Owain leapt off the horse, pulled a steel sword out of it's sheath, and quickly slashed his sword right into the back of the Barbarian. Anali heard a sharp gasp from Lissa; she looked over her shoulder to find Lissa seated behind Sumia on her pegasus. Her sister-in-law looked like she was halfway between excited and ready to vomit. "What is it?" Anali whispered.

"That stance…" she heard Chrom say.

Confused, Anali watched the scene play out as the Myrmidon took out one of Gecko's Dark Mages. Seeing this swordsman work a second time Anali realized that his battle style was eerily similar to Chrom and Lucina's. Even the way he held his sword while on standby, elbows bent so tight and stiff as to not latch onto anything, the guard of the sword held right in front of the jaw, legs bent slightly creating an 'L.' It was the same stance Chrom and Lucina would take.

The Myrmidon went for a strike against Gecko, in a flash the Assassin successfully blocked the attack and slashed into the Myrmidon's right arm. Gecko's remaining men dove to attack the Myrmidon and his Troubadour friend. The Troubador's horse whinnied, and started to kick at his masters oncoming attackers. "I TOLD YOU WE WERE OUT NUMBERD!" screamed the Troubadour. "I _TOLD YOU_ WE SHOULD HAVE GATHERED THE LOCALS!"

The Myrmidon moved around Gecko's men with skillful footwork. He bashed the hilt of his sword against Gecko's head, his men paused, and the Troubadour let out a sigh of relief as her horse settled down. Gecko's head jerked to the side on impact, frozen for a moment before he realized just what had happened. "Who are you?" he asked eyeing the blond young man.

"I am the wolf who howls for justice! The eagle who cries for love!" the Myrmidon declared with exuberance. "A chosen warrior who brings hope to a dying world! Now, atone for you deeds in the eternal hellfire of-"

"WILL YOU JUST GET ON WITH IT BEFORE YOU GET US KILLED?!" shouted Julie.

For a moment everyone, Gecko, his men, Julie, and the Shepherds were staring at Owain who was, once again in his L-shaped stance. The only thing that could be heard was the chirping of birds and the clucking of the Sages' chickens. After a pregnant pause Owain dropped his sword and started holding his dominate hand as his fingers started to twitch rather forcibly. "Blast you, sword hand! Now's no time for games!"

Another moment of silence fell upon everyone. Julie dropped her face into her gloved hands and let out a dry sob with a little 'why me' uttered. Gecko was the one who broke the silence proper when he threw his head back and laughed. "I _knew_ it," he said. "I just knew there were rocks in your head, boy!" Gecko snapped his fingers. "Alright, ignore the dolt and find that treasure."

"Not today, ne'er-do-wells!" Owain said, quickly grabbing his fallen sword before he sunk back into his defensive stance. "The legendary blade Missiletainn is fated for my twitching hand alone!"

Chrom was at a complete lost. Was the Myrmidon's hand cramping or was he just some theater person in way over his head? "Chrom give the go, Chrom give the go, Chrom give the go," Anali chanted while poking him in the side of his head, which snapped him out of his musings.

"Uh… right."

He gave the hand signal for Cherche and Cynthia move towards their assigned Sages. Anali pulled Chrom up behind her and nudged Amalthea forward. They flew close behind the elder Rosella and Minerva until they landed right in front of the house at the North.

Sumia allowed Lissa to slide off her pegasus before the Pegasus Knight took off into the air. Gaius had stood in front of them and held a hand out for Lissa. She smiled slightly, sliding her hand into his. "I think that Myrmidon's Owain," Lissa said bluntly.

"Huh?" Gaius question, completely oblivious to the others running pass them and onto the field.

"Owain," Lissa repeated. "Our son. His stance and fighting style is from House Ylisse. It's similar to Chrom and Lucina's."

She saw Gaius visibly gulp as he squeezed her hand. "All the-" he cut himself off as his voice broke mid-sentence. He cleared his throat. "All the more reason to win."

"Can you believe Owain had the bad luck to find Julie?" Inigo said, running into the battlefield beside Ze'ev.

"What's wrong with Julie?" Ze'ev asked opening his tome.

"Are you kidding? The only person who rivals Julie in moodiness and temper tantrums is-"

"Duck!"

Ze'ev firmly placed his hand on Inigo's head and forced him down. In a fluid movement the Dark Mage extended his hand and sent the opposing Myrmidon flying back. "Perhaps _now_ isn't the time to gossip amongst ourselves," Ze'ev said curtly.

"_Always_ the time to gossip," Inigo replied cheekily.

As soon as Chrom leapt off Amalthea he withdrew his blade and slashed one of the Dark Mages from shoulder to abdomen he heard Amalthea take off with a flap of her wings. In front of Chrom, the yellow-clad Myrmidon struck down one of Gecko's Myrmidon's. The youth in yellow nearly dropped his sword again while his dominate hand started to twitch. "Not now, sword hand!" he hissed at his own appendage. "Control yourself!" He suddenly dropped to his kneed, his free hand held onto his wrist so hard his knuckles were white. "Power… too great… Can't… control…"

Chrom cleared his throat so loudly it came out as more of a cough. The Myrmidon looked up at Chrom, completely abandoning the theatrics. "Sorry to interrupt your… conversation," Chrom said to the Myrmidon. He didn't quite realize how easy it would have been to make a snide comment until he spoke up. "But I have a question about your stance. You've crafted your own style around it, but it's clearly from the royal house of Ylisse."

The blond looked up at Chrom with wide eyes at first, then they narrowed as they slowly scanned Chrom. He only got to Chrom's bare shoulder before his eyes lit up in realization. He sprung to his feet, arms spread open as he shouted, "UNCLE CHROM!" with a childish exuberance.

To Chrom's surprise, the boy wrapped his arms around him. "Un… cle…?" he repeated slowly.

"Wait," Owain held his hand up after he stepped back. "Let me start over." He suddenly held his free hand up as though he were holding something in his palm, and slowly clenched it as he spoke. "O fellow scion of the great hero I greet you as kin and kind! From across the misty shores of time I strive, bearing forth tidings of-"

"Can you keep it brief?" Chrom asked cutting him off. "We're in the middle of a battle."

Owain's shoulders dropped as his hand fell limp at his side. "I'm Lissa and Gaius' son from the future," he said sheepishly. "Came back with Lucina…"

"Okay… not sure what I was expecting…" Chrom muttered to himself.

"It seems the blood we share has drawn us like moths to a flame! Like a great tidal wave of heroism, we crash upon the shores of evil and-"

"Can you fight, or do you just talk a lot? We're still in battle."

"My mettle in combat is stuff of legend!" Owain boasted. "Oh, wait, Uncle, I just have a little request. If you find the sword Missiletainn, will you permit me to wield it?"

"I heard you wailing about that before," said Chrom. "What kind of blade are we talking here?"

"A legendary one, Uncle! Imbued with the very power of the gods, if the tales are to be believed. I would use its might to defend my sacred queen and mother!"

"You mean Lissa?" questioned Chrom. He sighed. "I suppose I should be happy she has such a… devoted son…"

He wasn't exactly sure what he expected when he heard about having a nephew. But a stage actor was definitely not it. "Watch out!" Chrom shouted, pulling Owain away as one of Gecko's Barbarians sprinted in their direction.

From above a bolt of lightning knocked the Barbarian off his feet a few yards away. Both Chrom and Owain looked up to see a dark pegasus, and its' rider just as they closed their tome. "HI AUNT ANALI!" Owain bellowed happily.

Julie clung onto her horses' neck as he kicked at one of the Dark Mages. She was a healer by trade, but she realized a long time ago that she didn't need a weapon when she had Hawkeye's legs. When he firmly planted his back legs onto the ground Julie looked up to find a number of people fighting Gecko's men. She spotted Owain fighting alongside a blue haired man with a familiar looking blade in his hands.

"Hey, look, it's Julie!" she heard Cynthia exclaim. Julie immediately turned her head around until she found an older pegasus. "Hi, Julie!"

"Cynthia!" Lucina snapped, pulling at the elder Rosella's reigns just in time for the pair to dodge an opposing short axe.

Clicking her tongue, Julie urged Hawkeye forward towards the Barbarian. Hawkeye reared back and attacked the Barbarian. "Are they here?!" Julie asked Lucina desperately as soon as the Barbarian fell. "Are they?"

"Yes, of course," Lucina replied with a nod. "But… Julie-"

The Troubador's smile was wide enough to split her face. She clicked her tongue again and happily allowed Hawkeye to buck whomever he wanted. Lucina had to bite her lower lip; if Julie didn't know _now_ there were probably going to be some complications for herself in the present.

It was nice to see her former teacher again, and all the more reason for Cherche to keep the Sages Hamlet safe. The elder knew to stay in his home, and that the Shepherds where their to help. When that was taken care of Minerva took off into the air with two flaps of her wings. They hovered above the elder's house with a perfect view of Gecko. "Closer?" Cherche asked.

"No," Virion said drawing his bow, "I've a clear shot."

Cherche was rather excited to tell the elder of her engagement to Virion. She knew he was itching to talk about the future, set a date, whether or not they wanted children, and to make Minerva a comfortable, and pampered wyvern as possible. But even he knew, victory had to come first, then they could talk about their marriage. "Steady…" Virion said under his breath, more to himself than to either Cherche or Minerva.

Virion released the arrow; in a flash it lodged itself into Gecko's temple. He stood for just a moment before he dropped to his knees, then fell over dead.

* * *

"This old thing?" the elder Sage asked with a dark sword with its hilt wrapped together in his hands. "Well, you did help our cause-"

"Ha ha!" Owain laughed in triumphant. Without hesitation he took the sword into his hand. "I've found it at last! The fates mate to my sword hand, the divine blade, Missiletainn!"

"It's but a replica of the _Mystletainn_," the elder tried to correct him. "Just a blade of extremely common-"

Cherche gently placed a hand on the elder's shoulder. "Best just let him think what he wants, sir," Cherche said in a hushed tone.

The battle ended with the deaths of the stragglers after Gecko dropped dead. Lissa searched the village for Owain. She found him quickly, he was removing his old blade from his belt and replaced it with his prize. "Owain!" Lissa shouted to get his attention.

He looked up and nearly leapt back at the sight of Lissa running up to him. "_Mother_?!" his voice broke.

"So I was right!" Lissa said pleased with herself. "I've been wanting to- Your arm!"

Her hands reached out for his upper right arm, right where Gecko had attacked him earlier. The sleeve had ripped, and there was a slight cut, but it had stop bleeding a long time ago. "This?" Owain asked casually as Lissa pulled back the fabric and making the rip worse. "It's just a torn sleeve."

"No, I mean look at this thing!" Lissa exclaimed about ready to cry.

On Owain's arm, just a little lower than where Chrom had his, right on his bicep was the Mark of Naga. "Oh, right," Owain laughed weakly. "I suppose I'd have to show you eventually. It's my Brand, the very one carried by House Ylisse, so you don't need to worry anymore."

Lissa's brow shot up when she heard this. "So you know?" she asked. "That I don't…" She couldn't say it.

"That your Brand never surfaced?" Owain asked without judgment. "Of course, you told me as much, how it always weighed on you." He smiled, bearing his teeth all the while. "Wish I could have seen how happy you were the day mine appeared! Lady Maribelle said you were sobbing and laughing for an hour without pause!"

"Oh…" uttered Lissa. Her expression turned sour as her eyes looked away from her son. "Kind of hoped I would have grown out of the whole crying thing…"

"It was by chance alone your Brand never surfaced," Owain assured her warmly, "a pure fluke. You really are Calhoun's daughter, my Brand proves such."

Lissa's shoulders shook as she started laughing. It was a little bittersweet, Calhoun did some horrible things to innocent people, but he was still _her_ father. He must have loved her at some point. "Thank you," she said allowing the tears to stream down her cheeks. "Just…" Without really thinking she wrapped her arms around Owain's neck and pulled her close to him. "Thank you, Owain."

"I see," Chrom said staring down at Julie. Her's was pretty much the same story as Owain's, child from the future who came back in time with Lucina. "All right then, Julie, welcome aboard."

"Thank you, sir," Julie said with a bright smile.

"Chrom," Elaine said hurrying up to the pair. "Frederick asked me to inform you that the Sage's offered to-"

"Mother!" Julie exclaimed throwing herself onto Elaine with enough force to nearly knock them both over. "You're really here… Mother…"

Elaine could hear Julie's muffled sobs into her shoulder. "Wait… what?" was all she could ask. "You're…?"

Sniffling, Julie stepped away from Elaine and wiped her eyes. "S-sorry," she said quietly. "I got a little ahead of myself. I'm Julie…" she reached into her pocket and produced a silver ring with a green stone. "Your daughter."

Elaine tilted her head to the side, was that ring supposed to be hers? She believed Julie when she said she was hers, but the ring didn't mean anything to her. She had to believe this girl in front of her was her daughter. She had Elaine's eyes, the shape of her face, and spoke as politely as Elaine did. But who was Julie's father? "Julie," Elaine repeated to herself. She bowed her head slightly. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry I died, it must have been difficult."

"No!" Julie argued. "You did what you had to… A-and it wasn't… wasn't…" Julie's tears started anew. "I told myself I wasn't going to…"

"My poor baby," Elaine said wrapping her arms around Julie. "It's okay, mommy's here now."

"Mother!" Julie sobbed.

She lifted her head after a few minutes; Elaine held her at arms length and looked over her shoulder. Ricken and Henry were walking by, talking about the recent battle. "Daddy!" Julie shouted happily as she hurried up to Henry. She threw her arms around his chest, and actually got Henry to open his eyes, revealing a set of stormy grey irises.

"Huh?!" Henry uttered.

Ricken, Elaine, and Chrom stared at the scene with opened jaws. _Henry?! _That's who Elaine ended up marrying? Suddenly, Lucina's concerns seemed very, very plausible.

* * *

**Authors Note: **Well, if someone's going to meet their child before they're even _together _together it may as well involve the new guy with no direct connections to the others (well, okay, yeah Henry and Panne, but still, hardly counts).

If anyone's going to ask, no, nothing influenced my decision to keep Owain blond. He's blond because he can't pull off ginger (I find very few can pull off Gaius' hair color). It was just pure dumb luck. (Also, random head canon; Chrom also taught Owain to use a sword in his formative years before he died)

A part of the reason why I had to split Chapter thirty-two is because Chrom _needed_ to have that conversation with Arun. Actually there were several conversations that needed to happen. Libra, Gregor and Gaius needed to happen, especially since this was the chapter Gaius meets his son. And Chrom and Priam. And given how long this chapter ended up being… I'd say I made the right choice.

I've struggled with this chapter so much it's proof why I wouldn't be able to do NaNoWriMo.

As a final note, I'm going to take a wild guess and say that, where he canon, Ze'ev would probably be amongst everyone's least favorite future child list. He'd inherit the same skills and class sets every time because both parents are the same no matter what. He might have done better in Fates with that game's reclass options, but Awakening? I do not think people would like him as a battle unit.

Reminder about my tumblr blog **sammiewritesstuff**, where I'll be happy to answer any question, and eventually post tidbits, updates, and other goodies.


	34. Chapter Thirty-Four

**Chapter Thirty-Four  
Bad Blood**

The Hierophant despised this human body, this tiny, weak, barely able to live a hundred years, human body. Trapped in a pitiful form for two years, trapped in a form that couldn't handle her true powess, and a head that couldn't contain the centuries of memories. Humans really were pathetic, they broke so easily. If the Hierophant allowed herself to let loose, she was dead, and there went her backup plans.

In some ways, the Hierophant was surprised that she lasted this long with no ill effect. Every so often she would have the primitive urge to just let loose, something that never would have happened in her true form. Today, however, the urges were hitting her bad, it wasn't just a little monkey on her back that annoyed her, it was _painful_ to keep it all in. Movement burned her, breathing was like swallowing fire. It was a nightmare.

She hated the idea of needing rest like humans, but the Hierophant was grateful for the bed in her room at times like these. It was easier to force herself through days like this when she could rest her head down. Outside the room were a couple of human guards, but her blue haired Risen stood close to the Hierophant, obedient and silent. It was tempting to get _her_ out, have herself a good laugh, but the Hierophant didn't want to deal with the headache afterwards.

The Hierophant felt like her head was having an argument with itself, criticizing her plans.

Why were they working with humans? They were better than them!

What other choice did they have? They wouldn't be in this mess now if it wasn't for Orev, the Voice, and that Divine Dragon.

Using human's rarely paid off for either of them!

Well it paid off for over ten years in the true timeline!

Do we not realize how many things could go wrong with this?

Of course we do, but what. Choice. Duid. We. Have?! If it wasn't for our followers old and new, we would just be a memory!

Oh, how the mighty have fallen!

A red-haired youth of sacred blood…

A man with blade in hand…

A blue-haired youth…

Four noble maidens…

A soldier with a blessed blade and a white-haired princess…

So long as there is darkness in human hearts…

"SHUT UP!" screamed the Hierophant. "JUST SHUT UP!"

She planted her palms over her eyes. Patients, she just needed to be patient. Let the Ylisseans find the other gemstones, then they would bring everything right to them. Will they pick up a few of the brat princesses cohorts? Probably, but it mattered not. The Hierophant had the upper hand, the stupid little princess never realized that she was right behind her. Lucina would never suspect it was her. The look on the princesses face when she realized she brought the end with her, that she brought the end sooner to this world; it was a thought that made the Hierophant downright giddy.

And the moment Lucina realized Grima's true identity…

The door creaked open, neither the Hierophant nor her Risen turned to see who it was. He always stopped by as often as he could, all while tripping over himself to lick her boots like some mindless dog. Was this man even a man? She swore Validar was more stiff then a Risen.

This was going to hurt, but the Hierophant just could not pass up the chance to have a little fun with Validar.

Slowly, she lifted herself off the bed, arching her back while she held herself up with her arms. Her sleeve slid down her shoulder, showing just enough skin to make about any man curious. The Hierophant made sure to make her chest noticeable by positioning herself so that her breast were facing the ceiling. She puckered her lips and batted her eyes for an added effect.

The Hierophant felt the effect of just getting up instantaneously. White hot pain, a burning sensation. An overwhelming urged to destroy and kill. But anything was worth getting Validar riled up. "Validar~" the Hierophant said in a sultry sing-song tone. "Tell me, if I didn't look like your daughter, would you take me if I asked?"

That one question was enough to almost get Validar to jerk back in surprise. Even then the pure shock was written on his face. And it was priceless. "M-Master," Validar said with a slight high pitch in his voice, "to suggest such a thing…"

"You're right," the Hierophant said laying back down on her back, the burning was gone in an instant. "But if I looked like _her_, you would without question. Don't even _think_ of lying to me."

"Her?"

"You know, _her_. The one who nearly set the Grimleal back a couple of centuries."

It took Validar another moment to realize who 'she' was, instantly his lips were pressed together in a hard line, his eyes narrowed. His spine stiffened, all he could do to keep himself from lashing out at the Hierophant. "You insult me, Master," Validar said simply. "Do you even think I would take her back?"

"She got to you," the Hierophant said with a roll of the eyes, "don't deny it. You felt life down there when her name was on the table after Arun proved to be useless. And why not? She was beautiful, skilled at magic, had a clear voice, and more importantly… she gave _you_ the perfect child."

Validar seemed to shrink as the Hierophant listed off her various traits. He was trembling, old memories were beginning to surface; a young woman at a funeral, the various get-togethers thrown by her aunt to climb up the social ladder, the final decision that she would be the mother of his next child, and the preparations for that perfect night. Of course with those memories came the one that destroyed any desire Validar may have felt, an empty bed, an empty crib, a dead nurse and her missing Pegasus.

To think the Hierophant would even suggest Validar would want that she-devil back? "I ask you not to insult me like that again, Master," Validar said collecting himself. "That woman is a traitor to the Grimleal and to you. I'm honestly surprised you can mention her so casually."

Scoffing, the Hierophant turned her back to Validar. In the end this man was just as much a puppet as his ward was. The Hierophant wasn't even sure if he had a single thought for himself.

She wasn't sure if that was disappointing or just boring.

* * *

There were probably easier ways to take care of the little situation with Inigo before they lost everyone. But Lon'qu wasn't about to be delicate with this. He found his son chatting up some of the local girls, which wouldn't have been that big of a problem if they weren't just about ready to leave for the next town. So Lon'qu did what any responsible father would do.

He slung his son over his shoulder and carried him back to the group.

"One of those gorgeous girls was about to say yes to a date!" Inigo argued, not even bothering to actually fight Lon'qu's hold on him. "Did you really have to drag me off like this?! _Actually_ that was a pretty good lift, have you considered becoming Mother's dance partner?"

"We have to be with the group, Inigo," Lon'qu said firmly. "Everyone else is ready to march, if you're mad, be mad at yourself for losing track of time like that."

"Eh… whoops…" Inigo said through a lighthearted chuckle. He balled his hands together and looked straight ahead at the village Lon'qu was walking them both away from. "All right, time to trounce our next enemy and find a village lass to reward my efforts!"

With a furrowed brow Lon'qu stopped in his tracks. He kept one arm wrapped around Inigo's knees while the other had grabbed his son's belt. "Uh… Father… You stopped moving," said Inigo. "Are we cornered by the enemy already?"

"No," Lon'qu replied simply. "I was just wondering if you were like this in the future as well."

"Um… Depends on what you mean by 'like this,' I suppose…"

"For someone who came from an apocalyptic hellscape, you're awfully carefree," said Lon'qu. "Seems like you haven't a care in the world past whose bed you'll be sharing tonight. Lucina and the others seem driven in their goal… It's just strange you don't have any of that purpose."

"No purpose?" Inigo asked in a way Lon'qu could not tell if he was fringing hurt, or if he really did strike a cord. "I'll have you know I'm extremely driven!"

"Really?"

"Indeed! I will not rest until every woman in the realm swoons at just hearing my name!"

After a pregnant pause Lon'qu removed his hands and allowed Inigo to slip off his shoulder. His son landed face first on the ground, but Inigo's immediate reaction was to laugh it off as he dusted himself off. "The lift was good, but you need to be a bit more gentle with your dance partners," said Inigo.

Instantly Lon'qu turned on his heel to face Inigo. "You literally traveled across time… just to be popular with girls?" Lon'qu asked, his voice was completely laced with disbelief.

"No. To be popular with _all_ the girls," Inigo said with a tooth-bearing grin. "Genius, I know. But… stop, Father, you're making me blush."

It usually took a lot to get Lon'qu into stunned silence, his discomfort around women not withstanding. But he was pretty sure Inigo just broke some kind of record. "I don't even know what to say…" he said dumbly.

"What?" Inigo asked with a shrug. "It never bothered you when _Mother_ would blush in front of you."

"That's not what I…" his voice trailed off as he rubbed his temples. Gods, was he not prepared for that answer. "Suddenly, I feel exhausted… I'm going on ahead, don't straggle behind again."

Inigo simply pursed his lips to the side while Lon'qu walked off ahead of him. Not a care in the world? No, he meant 'not a thought in his head.' Strange though, he didn't quite remember Lon'qu being this hard on anyone, let alone his own son, in his own time. Then again this Lon'qu was some ten years younger than the father of Inigo's memories.

Among the Shepherds who traveled ground level there was a great big pink elephant in the room when it came to three of them. Elaine was putting in as much effort as possible to avoid Henry. While she would speak with Julie their conversations were stilted. Julie looked like she was perpetually kicking herself. And Henry was just… Henry. He seemed to be pretty okay with the fact that he had a child. What he had to think about his apparent future wife was a little up in the air at the moment.

Would this have been Lucina's fate if she gave into the temptation that night and somehow convinced Chrom and Anali that she was their future daughter? Awkward interactions with each other and her? They would probably resent her, and her infant self, for taking away their freedom of choice.

The thought was enough to make her shoulder's shake.

"So… uh… How are you holding up, Julie?" she asked.

They rode together on Hawkeye while they traveled. Slowly, Julie turned her head around to look at Lucina. She had dark circles under her eyes while her face looked positively ashen. Julie was smiling, but it was clearly forced. "Fine…" she said with forced enthusiasm.

"I'm sorry," Lucina said with a slight flinch. "If I knew away to do it without making it seem obvious I would have fanned the flames a little."

"Why are you apologizing?" Julie asked, now facing forward. "You couldn't have known when they were going to meet. Of course neither did I, so how was I supposed to know they just met by the time you found me?! Hey, Mother, didn't you ever think that I would've liked to know how you met Father?! That's the sort of thing you tell your children while you have the chance! It's common courtesy, _Mom_! But, you know, I'm doing just fine. Thank you for asking."

She said the last lines so sweetly her previous rant may as well have never happened.

The tension was on the ground level, but the air-born units were bereft of this. Mostly because of the shouting from Owain and Cynthia. "But wait," Cynthia declared. "Beano the Barbarian Queen sent out her cannon-armed griffins!"

"Ah, but what the Barbarian Queen doesn't know is the Justice Cabal packed the strongest of Wind Tomes that can easily blow any cannonball right back at the griffins!"

"And with the combined strength of the divine winged lance-"

"And the legendary blade Missiletainn-"

"Beano the Barbarian Queen is knocked off her throne-"

"And the village is free to own as much cream cheese as they want!"

They finished their little tangent with a battle cry that earned them a scolding from Cherche. The whole thing started when the two of them started to reminisce about their early childhoods, before Grima was resurrected when things were still rather bad, but much simpler. They were make-believe adventurers and do-gooder's who called themselves 'the Justice Cabal.' "I missed those games," Cynthia said after Cherche's scolding. "When'd we stop?"

Owain's smile fell. He remembered the reason why, they lost a third Cabal member. "Uh…" he uttered, "about the same time when…"

Cynthia's spine stiffened and her hair stood up on end. How could she have forgotten? She was there when the mission to get the royal family out of Ylisstol went bad. She saw for herself why their games stopped. "I'm sorry," Cynthia said quietly. "I know you and Luci loved him…"

"Heh… how I feel about it's nothing compared to Lucina," Owain pointed out.

"Well, yeah, I guess, but he was your-"

"Speaking of bad feelings, what about Julie, huh? Her blood tends to boil like the sun, but she generally looks as calm as ever."

Cynthia knew he was dodging the subject, but decided it was best to just let it go.

The Shepherds set up camp that night. At dinner Elaine stared intently at her plate while she shifted her food around. She was pretty okay with the thought that she was going to have a daughter one day. She was a mother before she reached twenty, Elaine could handle that. But her future husband turned out to be _Henry_? What did her future-self see in him?

While Henry hadn't harmed any of them, and he seemed to be getting along well with Ricken and Nowi, he was just so… unnerving. He had such bizarre fascinations with blood and death, Elaine failed to see how a man like that could be an adequate father. Or husband.

"You can't avoid them forever," Stahl told her gently. "Whether something happens between you two or not, Julie should at least have her mother and father get along."

"Oh, no doubt," Cordelia agreed. "I can't imagine what the poor girl must be going through right now. The longer you draw this out the worst iiiiiit's…"

Her voice was caught in her throat when Anali and Cherche walked by, the two of them held a map in front of them while they conversed. And just like that, Cordelia was probably the worst person to give Elaine advice about tackling the issue now before it got worse later. She liked to think conversing with Anali was getting better, but neither of them could quite look each other in the eye when they spoke.

"But what if Julie's expecting something to come from it?" Elaine asked, dropping her fork. "These children are going to want to be born in this era, right? I can't find anything remotely attractive about Henry. You see how he's like on a regular day, what's he going to be like on a _bad_ day?!"

"So, you think he's going to go nuts and go on a murderous rampage?" asked the Cavalier.

"_Stahl!_" hissed Cordelia.

A sudden groan caught their attention. Anali had slouched over with a palm pressed against her forehead. "Are you alright?" Cherche asked, grasping her shoulder.

"Headache," Anali mumbled. "It just… _bam_, hit me."

"Did you have enough water today?"

Cordelia rose to her feet but didn't move towards Anali just yet. No one could say that there was bad blood between them. It was just… awkward blood.

"Yeah…" said Anali. "I… I think I'm going to turn in a little early… see if laying down helps."

"Good call," said Cherche.

Anna pushed her plate in front of her and laid her upper body across the table. She let out a long sigh before she started muttering nonsense under her breath. "Something wrong?" Priam asked at her side.

"Yes, something's wrong!" Anna sat back up with a pout. "I didn't make a single sale today! Even amongst the Shepherds! It's like the world's gone all topsy-turvy!"

"Sorry to hear it," Priam said dully before he popped a few green beans into his mouth.

Sighing again, Anna lowered her head onto Priam's upper arm, she felt his muscles tense instantly. She couldn't have smiled anymore than if she noticed something else a little tense at the moment. Surely he felt the same thing she was right now, a pull in the pit of the belly, a fire that was begging to be fanned. "Times like this, a girl could use a shoulder to cry on," she unsubtly said.

"Well, I'm sure you could rent one."

He smiled inwardly when Anna punched him on the arm. "Har-har," Anna said as she pushed him. "Hi-larious. I may be pragmatic, but I am still human. I need companionship, too."

"You _do_ realize how I can reply to that, yes?" asked Priam.

"Jeez, what's gotten into you today?" Anna said with a laugh. "You're on fire with the comebacks."

"Are you sure I'm on fire, or you're just making it easy?"

"There you go again! I'm starting to wonder if you're actually Priam."

He shrugged lazily. "Pretty sure it's me," said Priam, "I can still feel the sting of your pokes close to an open wound."

"It got the message across, didn't it?" the Secret Seller asked with a bold, tooth-bearing grin.

If she said she didn't want this man, in any means, she would have had 'liar' written all over her face.

Anali hardly got any sleep that night. Both the fear of her nightmares and the headache made it difficult. To her, it seemed like she was waking up every five minutes as though she was ill with something. It did not help in the slightest that she felt like she was breathing in ashes throughout the night. As the Shepherds continued their way to the Wyvern Valley Anali spent the better part of the day napping behind Chrom.

Her headache subsided by morning, thank goodness, and the sensation of breathing ashes was gone. So Anali spent the trip with her head rested against Chrom's back, while her arms were dead at her sides. She opened her eyes, in a half-awakened daze, to find a rust-colored stallion and a purple-clad Troubadour beside them. "Sir," she heard Ze'ev say.

"No need to be so formal, Ze'ev," Chrom replied. Anali could hear the rumble in his back. "What's on your mind?"

"Uh…em…" Ze'ev struggled. How could he not be formal around his friend's father? The _Exalt_ of all people. "The village we're coming up to. There should be men under Septimus' flag, if you have me talk to them we should be able to get provisions and a safe spot for the night if needed."

Chrom held his breath for a brief moment. They probably could use provisions for both land travel and to restock on everything the storm ruined on the ship. And it certainly wouldn't hurt to get to know some of these people Septimus said would cooperate. "We can stop for provisions at least," said Chrom. "Thank you for the suggestion, Ze'ev."

"Y-yeah…" the Dark Mage uttered as Chrom's stallion galloped on ahead.

"Kind of weird to refer to our friends parents by name, isn't it?" asked Julie.

"No kidding," Ze'ev said with a snort.

"So… I kind of noticed you haven't been sleeping much…"

There were bags under Ze'ev's eyes. There were _always_ bags under Ze'ev's eyes. When the group was last together, before their trip back in time, Julie was fully aware that Ze'ev had bouts of insomnia. They both had originally chalked it up to the environment they grew up in. But if Ze'ev had trouble sleeping now, when things were considerably better off,

"Is that anything new?" Ze'ev retorted. "I wasn't expecting things to change in that regard when we arrived here."

That was troubling. Julie would have thought working with pirates would have tired him out some, made it easy for him to sleep. All the pillaging and working. "That won't do at all," said Julie. "I shall have to help you beat this."

"That's not-"

"I SAID I'D HELP YOU!"

Ze'ev swallowed. Why did he have a bad feeling about this?

* * *

"_Come on, we're almost in the clear!" Stahl bellows, urging his horse faster._

_It was getting worse, the Risen were turning up everywhere these days, by the dozen's. Most times, like today, we're vastly outnumbered. My plan was to grab the Risen's attention so the other's could run for it, Amalthea could find me and I was safe. Stahl insisted he play a part in this as well. I tried, _I tried _to talk him out of it, it meant sacrificing his horse… but he was unswayable._

_I keep my tome open in one hand and quickly fire a spell if a Risen get's too close. My eyes turn towards the darkening sky, still nothing. "Just a little longer!" I shout._

_The thunder of hooves and cries from the Risen at our backs are the only things I can make out over my own heartbeat. I think I hear Stahl shout something in reply, something like, "We can make it!" or "Got it!"_

_An arrow is suddenly lodges into the horses neck. He started to dance furiously, throwing Stahl and I off in the process. A bow knight had broken away from the group and shot at the horse in the process. I don't trust myself to get my sword out in time, so I stick with my tome. Stahl had already gotten out his sword and was cutting through how every many Risen as he could. We're sadly surrounded._

_Try as I may to attack, whenever I point myself in one direction, I'm pulled in another direction when a Risen pulls at my coat or hair. I realize what they're trying to do; get me off my feet so I become easy prey. We're pretty much dead at this rate. I have to get Stahl back to Ylisstol, I told Cordelia he'd be home safe in time for the child's first birthday._

_I hear a high-pitched whinny, and manage to make out a pair of large feathery wings connected to a dark creature. "Stahl!" I shout, putting my all into the next three spells. "We're saved!"_

_We managed to clear a path, as soon as Amalthea is low enough for me to climb on, I'm on. I reach a hand out for Stahl. Our fingers just touch when a Risen tackles him to the ground. They swarm him; Amalthea, spooked, takes off into the air. I freeze in place as soon as Stahl's pain-stricken screams reach my ear. I can't see what they're doing to him, but his screams tell all. "Anali!" he screams. "Please!"_

_My blood turns to ice. That one word repeats itself over and over in my head. Damn it…_

_My hands are shaking as I open my tome. I extend my free hand forward, palm facing downward. Lightning shoots out from under my palm. The first bolt is enough to cause the horde to scurry back. The second bolt strike's Stahl in the chest, he jerks slightly before he lays back down. For a moment, I see what the Risen had done to him. One of his eyes were gouged out, his right arm had a chunk bitten off, his opposite hand was missing a few fingers._

_I urge Amalthea to move before we're shot at. _

Anali woke feeling as cold as ice. She could make out someone's voice, maybe Frederick, speaking with Chrom. She felt Chrom's voice rumble in his chest while he replied. Anali needed to blink several times to rid herself of the haze. "Wha's goin' on?" Anali asked, rubbing one eye.

"Well, good morning, sleeping beauty," she heard Chrom chuckle. "Well, afternoon but…"

"What's going on?"

"Sumia and Cordelia flew on ahead," Chrom explained. "It looks like the town up ahead is in the middle of a meeting in the square. Looks like something's going on."

They arrived in town shortly. At first glance it was a regular ghost town, but the farther they traveled in, the closer they got to the fountain at the square. A elderly man in brown robes stood on the edge of the fountain, addressing the townsfolk in front of him.

"We can't continue like this!"

"We barely have enough to get by as it is!"

"I have five mouths to feed and they're not getting nearly enough!"

"Our crops will suffer for this!"

"People, please!" the elder said as loudly as he could. "Their leader is a former Valmese general! We'll be crushed if we even think about-"

"Excuse me," Chrom called. A silence promptly fell over the crowd. "What's this about Valm?"

The crowd started whispering instantaneously. "Exalt Chrom," the village elder said with a brief bow, "you honor us with your presence. Lately we've been plagued by a man called Nelson. As I said before he's a former general of Valm, defected months ago to find his own fortune."

"Lemme guess," Chrom took over, "this involves using brute force to steal from those who can't fight back."

An old war fortress from Exalt Calhoun's war served as the perfect base for Nelson and his men. However, this village was beginning to bore him, perhaps it was time to move onto a larger city. "Sir!" one of Nelson's subordinates shouted as he approached. "Armed soldiers have been spotted. Their leader appears to be Chrom of Ylisse."

"What?!" Nelson dropped his staff. "You're sure?"

"Affirmative. Too many in his army fit the descriptions we've heard of. The tactician queen, the sister, the Great Knight, the man from the Garden of Giants, there's even a Taguel and Manakete with him."

"Damnit!" Nelson cursed. "Why would he come here? Never mind. Get our hounds ready to welcome them."

"Who's the hound?!" a teenaged girl shouted.

Her long, red hair was held up in a pair of pigtails. Behind her stood another girl, while she was taller than her red-haired friend, her posture made her seem shorter as she tried to make herself small. She wore a circlet around her grey-brown hair that had a white plume in it. Beside them was an older man, who was using a pot as a helmet.

"The one who will be a good bitch and do as I say," Nelson said, giving the red-haired girl a smug grin. "Unless you don't want-"

"Of course I do," the red haired girl growled back.

Nelson looked up at the man by the girls. "I trust you're equally aware of your position, Holland?" The man slunk back, avoiding eye contact with the Sage. "Loquacious as ever, I see. Now you three stop gawking and take your positions already."

The red-haired girl muttered furiously under her breath while her timid friend followed close behind. "All this grief over something so small," she muttered. "Why didn't he take yours? You've got two on you."

"Well…" the timid girl said, wringing her bow between her hands. "It… _might_ have something to do with the hex Mother placed on them."

"Right, Miss. Tharja's famous hexes," muttered the red-head. "Well once we get back mine, we're leaving."

"B-but, Mr. Holland-"

"We're going to convince him to come with us, okay! Now come on, maybe we can use this attack as a distraction and slip past Nelson."

The red-head's timid friend was about to say something when a group of Tricksters ran past her. One of them knocked into her, almost throwing her onto the floor. She saw a white plume on the floor that was quickly kicked away by a group of Barbarian's. "M-my talisman!" the girl gasped. She chased after the men as they carried off the plume. "W-wait, I need that!"

"I hate fighting in doors," Cordelia sighed while she leaned her head back for a moment. "I understand there's no room for equines, but-"

"Imagine how I feel, then," Panne cut her off. "I hate fighting in this form, but there's generally no room to transform either. I imagine Nowi feels the same."

"Ah, yes. That's true," Cordelia said with a reddened face. Gods, what an ignorant thing to say!

"Not to be worrying," Gregor said stretching out his limbs. "Gregor be more than happy to defend favorite pupil and Cordy."

"Pupil?" Cordelia repeated. "Wait, _Cordy_?"

Sighing, Panne waved her hand lazily.

"I'm never sure if fighting indoors can give us an advantage or not," Anali said to herself.

"You didn't seem to have a problem when we were defending Aunt Emmeryn," Lucina pointed out.

"Yes, but in that case we were kind of forced into it, little time to prepare and worry about being boxed in."

"We'll be fine, Anali," Chrom said, grasping his wife's hand. "You said it yourself, this Nelson character would use his men to do his work for him, when we find him he'd pretty much trap himself somewhere."

Anali pursed her lips to the side. They weren't able to do anything but fight their way through until they found Nelson. Fighting indoors meant they needed to sacrifice aerial attacks, as well as Nowi. Maybe they could get lucky enough to find a room big enough for Panne to transform and fight to her abilities, but Nowi was pretty much defenseless. Which was why she was outside taking care of the various animals with Donnel and Ricken.

Anali wished they could have the advantage of flight and Manakete powess, she understood why they had to be without. She was glad they were fighting humans, after her little nightmare earlier that day Anali wasn't sure what she would do if they fought Risen. Gods, what was wrong with her?

"Gods, where _is_ she?" the red haired girl asked herself.

She wasn't sure how far into the fortress she traveled before she realized her friend had disappeared. Wasn't it enough that they had to find Holland first and get her item back? "You there!" she heard.

Turning around the red-haired girl nearly leapt back at the sight of Cordelia half-jogging up to her. She could see Gregor and Panne fighting a couple of Nelson's men behind the Pegasus Knight. Gregor had taken the bunt of a Arcfire spell for Panne, who successfully punched out the attacker. "Gods, it's you," the girl muttered irritably.

"Have we met?" Cordelia asked, placing the end of her lance on the floor. "If so, I'm afraid I've forgotten."

"Well, excuse me for not nabbing Her Highness' attention!" snapped the girl.

Cordelia listed her head to the side. "What? Never mind, this isn't the time. If you're a friend, speak now. If not, then stay out of Lord Chrom's way or I'll have to cut you-"

"WHO. _CARES_?!" the girl screamed. Cordelia's knightly bravado fell at the sudden outburst in exchange for utter confusion. The girl's face had turned beat red, and there was murder written in her eyes. "_Who cares?! _No one! He got married well over a year ago, and you decided you weren't even going to _try_! _Get over it_! Ah! You know, you're _not_ the only one that's even happened to, so stop acting like you are!"

As far as Cordelia knew the battle around them wasn't even happening anymore. Should she have been offended by this? She didn't even know this girl, but she got the feeling the girl was holding this in for a long time. "I'm sorry…?" she asked.

"You _should_ be!" the girl shouted. "You never had the right to be upset as long as you were! You didn't even _try_! You're not so special because you couldn't get what you wanted!"

Okay, this girl was beginning to get a _little bit _presumptuous. "That's a bit far don't you think?" Cordelia asked, trying to keep herself calm. "You don't know anything about-"

The girl let out a loud sigh as she rolled her eyes. "Never mind this," she said much more calmly. "I don't care about your petty one-sided love triangle. I just want to talk to Holland."

"Holland?"

"Yes, Holland! If I can talk to him, then I'll help in your stupid army. And Noire! I lost that sad sack somewhere down the road. She's a pitiful thing, so don't you dare hurt her!"

Without another word the girl marched her way down the corridor, leaving Cordelia slack jawed and confused. "What… just happened?"

"Where is it, where is it?" Noire muttered furiously to herself while she searched for the plume.

She tried to make herself seem as small as possible; she realized a while ago that she was separated from her friend, which got her knees shaking. Her hands continued to wring around her bow nervously. She froze when she heard the tell-all giggle of a particular Dark Mage. Slowly, Noire looked over her shoulder to find Tharja casting a Nosferatu spell at one of Nelson's men while a man in green armor leapt forward, finishing the job with an attack from his sword. Now she _had_ to find her talisman.

A blessing showed itself to her when she found her talisman just around the corner. Dusting it off she placed it back on her circlet before she burst into maniacal laughter.

Yes! She was ready for this!

Noire's bravado died as soon as she saw Tharja again, who was, once more, fighting against one of Nelson's men with the man in armor. Gulping, Noire slid an arrow out of her quiver and knocked it onto the bow string. Her form was terrible, but she still managed to hit Nelson's man in the back. When he fell over Noire started shaking upon seeing the glare Tharja was giving her. "I can handle myself," she said darkly. "What do you want?"

"I, um…" Noire forced out. She reached into the pouch attached to her belt and pulled out a chain with two black rings hanging off it. "H-here, please look at these."

Tharja stepped over the corpses like it were nothing and strode over to Noire. She took the rings into her hand. "Nice rings," she muttered indifferently. "Look's just like…"

Just like the rings she made for herself and Donnel. "You messing around with alchemy?" Tharja hissed. "Or is this something darker?"

"N-no!" Noire argued. "It's nothing like that, it's just…"

"Tell me the truth, girl. You don't want to see what happens if you lie to me."

"Uh. Tharja…" Stahl called meekly while fighting against a Barbarian.

"Stay out of this!"

"W-well…" Noire stuttered, "you see…"

She reached up for her talisman. As soon as her finger's touched the plume her face fell blank. Tharja just watched, unimpressed, even when Noire looked up with a bloodlust in her eyes while she laughed manically. "I am a righteous fury," she bellowed, "I am your future daughter!"

"And you're trying my patience," Tharja said with indifference.

"_Insolence! _You think I'd lie? These rings are mementos of my departed mother and father!"

"And the talisman?"

"Your own handiwork!" Noire declared. "Wrought to steel the mewling heart of your cowardly daughter! In its strength did I find blessed escape from grief and solitude! Fear of death and killing, too, it drove from me, until I became an avatar of retribution! Only by clinging to it have I survived the crushing desolation of a ruined future!"

As Noire started laughing again, Tharja nonchalantly reached up and plucked the plume from Noire. Immediately her demeanor changed backed to the cowering girl she was. "W-wait!" Noire reached out for her talisman. "I need that! Without it, I can't-"

"Survive?" Tharja finished, eyeing Noire. "You _can_ and you _will_. Just be my daughter and leave all the retribution to me."

"M-Mother…" Noire dropped her hands. Actually Tharja came around faster than she hopped.

"Now this is a nasty little number," Tharja said, studying the talisman. "Future me is good… And very, _very_ bad. So much to look forward to."

"M-Mother?" Noire squeaked out.

"This little trinket will advance my research quite nicely." Tharja eyed Noire again. "You have my blood, right? Think I'm going to need a bit of it back once this is over."

Noire's eyes widened like a pitiful little mouse before a wicked grin formed on her face. The bloodlust was back in her eyes again. "Bleed me dry and I shall be as thunder still!" she bellowed.

"See?" Tharja said casually. "No daughter of mine needs some murmmer's prop to be strong."

* * *

The red haired girl continued her way through the fortress, coming across her friend's parents more than once. She did wonder if she passed her father without even realizing it, but she was going to worry about that after knocking some sense into Holland. She took out three of Nelson's men when she finally found him. "Severa?!" he gasped. "What are you doing here? If he knows you left your post-"

"Who cares about Nelson?" Severa cut him off. "Noire and I are leaving, and you're coming with us."

"Severa…" Holland said pitifully. He let out a heavy sigh. "I… can't. You know I can't. If I don't earn Nelson's coin, my wife will surly starve. I know it's blood money, but-"

"Your wife is _pregnant_, Holland!" Severa snapped, putting as much emphasis on the word 'pregnant' as possible. "You do know that, don't you?!"

"Of course I know that!" Holland snapped, raising his voice for the first time.

"You really think that weasel will just pay you every so often and that's it? What's your wife and child going to do if you die?"

"That's none of your concern!"

Without warning, Severa grabbed Holland by the shirt and pulled him to her level. She drew her arm back for a moment before she punched him in the face. Her punch had enough force to knock Holland over as soon as Severa released his shirt. "I can tell you now that child wants both of its' parents in it's life," Severa said, she didn't raise her voice but it was dripping with anger. "And what happens if your wife dies too, huh? The world's got far too many orphans for it's own good. Stay here and Nelson's bound to kill you. Your child deserves better than that!"

"Severa…" Holland murmured. "You talk from experience?"

A blush formed on the red-haired girl's face before she turned her head to the side. "I'm sorry," said Holland. "I didn't know. Noire too, huh? Must have been hard. You're right. You're right, they both deserve better. Let's get out of here."

Severa smiled for the first time in quite a while. "Really?" she asked.

"Yes, yes. Let's get out of here."

Lucina, Owain, Gaius and Lissa paved the way for Chrom and Anali. They were bombarded by Nelson's men, which told Anali that they were close. Lucina shouted for them to go on ahead while they took care of the underlings. Anali was impressed to see how well her daughter and nephew worked off each other. In spite of their years of separation they still read each other perfectly. It wouldn't have surprised Anali if it turned out they were taught together when they were young.

Anali ran at Chrom's heels down a long hallway. At the end they found a small chamber that was filled with various valuables. Suns, jewels, finely crafted items, an obvious treasure room. A man in brown sage robes stood, leaning against a staff. His smile was a cross between bemusement and rage.

Nelson had hoped Chrom was carrying the Fire Emblem with him. If he could nab Ylisse's most precious treasure people would bow down to him en masses. But no, Ylisse's Exalt just carried the Falchion. No matter, once his men had the Exalt and his men taken care of the Fire Emblem was as good as his regardless.

He did toy with the idea of taking Chrom's wife for his own. While she had a common appearance in Plegia, she was considered an exotic beauty in Valm and Ylisse. Every great man needed a beautiful wife for his subjects to adore. And Nelson had every intention of becoming a great man.

Of course, even with that in mind, Nelson was not pleased to find Chrom and his wife forced their way into the treasure room. His men were supposed to have the Exalt taken care of. "Damn," Nelson muttered under his breath. "Useless fools the lot of them!"

"And what does that make the man cowering behind them, then?" Chrom countered, sliding Falchion from its sheath.

Nelson decided that he would take great joy in ending Chrom's life. He removed a Thoron spell out from under his robes. Quickly, he flipped it open and aimed straight at Chrom. Orange-yellow electricity flew into the air. Anali elbowed Chrom in the chest, enough to knock him out of the spells path. Electricity grazed her right between her neck and shoulder. The shock of the impact was enough to get Anali to loose her footing and collapse to the floor. There was a burning sensation on the crook of her neck, while her right arm had gone numb.

"Whoops," Nelson said with a haughty laugh, which only earned him a glare from Chrom. "Her own fault for moving. Shame, though."

In a flash Chrom was sprinting up to Nelson. He wasn't sure who he was angrier with, Anali for acting or Nelson for harming his wife on top of exploiting the villagers. In the end, Chrom decided he was angry with the both of them, the difference was Nelson owed the village retribution.

Nelson was too busy gloating over his little victory that he realized too late that Chrom had cut into him. He felt his side cut open and blood spill out of the wound. The pain was instant and the shock of actually being cut caused him to drop to the floor. Rolling onto his back he saw Chrom standing over him with the tip of his blade pointed straight at him. "W… wait…" Nelson panted.

Without another word Chrom dug the tip of the blade into Nelson's neck. The Sage's eyes widened while blood started to drip out of the corners of his mouth. Chrom didn't bother to watch him, to see if he was dead. He could die in his own cowardice.

When Chrom approached Anali, she had just sat up. Her left hand was pressed right over her wound. "I'm fine," Anali said breathily, wincing as she spoke. "My arm's numb, but I'm fine."

"I'd like to see for myself," Chrom said, prying her hand away from the wound.

The attack burned right through the collar of her tunic. The skin looked very ugly, it hardened at the center, it didn't look like skin, but more like burnt bread. Around it looked healthier in comparison, it was still red, but it still looked like skin. "If it hit anywhere else…" Chrom muttered to himself.

"I'm _fine_," Anali said almost whining.

"Can you walk?"

"I think so…"

Carefully, Chrom took Anali by her arms and helped her onto her feet. "I could have blocked that myself," he said.

"I just acted without really thinking," said Anali. It was a lie, she knew what she was doing. It was better Anali end up getting beaten up like this than Chrom. She was the one Ylisse could afford to loose. "I was scared for a moment."

Pulling her close to him, while trying not to aggravate her injury, Chrom kissed her on the temple. "Let's see if we can find someone to look at that," he said.

The Shepherds regrouped shortly after, having successfully sized the fortress and taken out Nelson and his men. The village elder and a few others organized the distribution of the villager's stolen items and extra coin. Severa made out like a thief when she found her item before the elder gave it away by accident. Holland said his good-byes to Severa and Noire and wished them luck in whatever they were doing before he hurried home to his wife. Severa did notice that Holland didn't even try to swipe any of Nelson's coin. Perhaps he would still consider it blood money or Holland was going to use a different approach to provide for his wife and child.

She found her ring still strung onto it's chain. Blasted Noire and her mother's hexes, would have saved us a lot of trouble if Severa had a similar hex on her ring. "There you are," she heard.

Severa could have sworn her hair stood up on end. She whipped herself around to find Cordelia approaching her. "Wh-what do you want?" Severa asked with a reddening face.

"I simply wanted to thank you for your cooperation," Cordelia explained. "You fought bravely, em…"

"Severa. My name's Severa."

"It… suits you somehow," said Cordelia. Somehow it did sound kind of rough, making it appropriate for her. "Oh, I'm-"

"Cordelia. I know."

"Yes, but… I'm sorry, did I introduce myself before?"

Severa snorted while she crossed her arms over her chest. "Jeez," she exhaled. "Would've thought you've figured it out by now."

Cordelia list her head to the side. Figured what out? Wait a minute…

Perhaps Cordelia hadn't noticed before in the heat of battle, and being yelled at by her, but Severa had long red hair, not unlike Cordelia herself. But what convinced her was the ring Severa wore around her neck. It was worn out with age, but was clearly the same ring Stahl proposed to her with.

"Oh, I see," Cordelia said with a giggle. "You must have come back with Lucina. And the ring would, logically, make you my daughter. Isn't that right?" Severa's eyes narrowed to the side while she muttered something Cordelia couldn't make out. "What was that?"

"I _said_, I thought you'd be lonely," Severa said irritably, "so I came here to see you!"

"Well, that's very sweet," she giggled.

"Don't mock me!" Severa hissed stepping away from Cordelia. "You don't care! You don't care at all!"

"How could you possibly think that?" Cordelia asked, her eyes softening. "I'm thrilled-"

"I don't care about how you feel!" Severa snapped. "It's always about _you_ and _your_ precious feelings! What about how _I_ feel, huh? You think I like being told my father was just someone you settled for? That _I'm_ just something you settled for?!"

Cordelia wasn't sure what had hurt her more, Severa's accusations or the angry tears she started shedding mid-rant. Her words couldn't have hit Cordelia and more than if she was physically slapped across the face. "'Settled for?'" Cordelia repeated. "Why would you ever think-"

"'Well, I used to be painfully lonely and in love with a man I could not have,'" Severa quoted in an overly-high pitch, whiney tone. "'I even dreamt of death.' What am I _supposed_ to think, Mom? Couldn't get you to shut up about Chrom, but whenever I asked about Daddy it's 'Not now, Severa.' 'I don't want to talk about it, Severa.' 'You know how it makes me feel, Severa.'"

The Pegasus Knight's stomach dropped at least three times during Severa's rant. There was Severa's implication that Cordelia outlived Stahl for starters. And then there was the fact that Severa knew of Cordelia's previous affections. What the _hell_ was her future self thinking letting Severa know that when her father was dead?! "W-well, I assure you, Severa, there was no 'settling' for anything," said Cordelia. "While I can't really speak for my future self, I imagine it must have been really difficult for me to talk about Stahl, especially if he-"

"Oh, yeah," Severa scoffed, clearly disgusted. "He's only _my_ father, who _I_ have no memories of. Right, I shouldn't ask about my own father because of Goddess Cordelia's oh-so-precious feelings."

"O-okay… yes that's fair. A bit crude, but fair…"

"And then you went an chose _him_ over me, you never came back," Severa spat. "You chose _him_ over Daddy. What am I supposed to think after all that?"

Yes. Yes, of course Severa would have rather hear stories about her father than her mother's commander. Just from these few minutes of conversation Cordelia could deduce that Stahl died first, and when Severa was too young to remember him. Between that and her knowledge of Cordelia's, rather mortifying, sham of a love life… yes. Cordelia would have easily come to the same conclusions Severa did if it were her.

This little revelation left her at a loss, however. Whatever happened between the two of them in Severa's own time had clearly effected her deeply. Probably not helped by the years Cordelia was dead an unable to answer for. Simply _telling_ Severa that things weren't going to be the same wasn't going to be enough. "Well, I'm afraid I can't erase the… future… past?" said Cordelia. "But I'm sorry for being a less than adequate mother."

"Well," Severa said, drying her eyes with the heel of her palm, "you're still my mother, so I guess you're stuck with me."

"That sound's like something that should be said from me to you," Cordelia said, trying to suppress a smile.

"Well, I said it first, so no repeats!"

Giggling Cordelia pulled Severa into a hug by the neck. She was looking forward to start creating happier memories with Severa, and Stahl, of course. Severa on the other hand was red in the face with a wonky half-smile. Her arms hung dead at her sides while Cordelia nuzzled her cheek into Severa's hair.

* * *

The Shepherds found two more of Lucina's friends, but they had yet to reach their destination. The little detour they took may have liberated the village but it cost them precious daylight. Ze'ev was the one who handled the Shepherd's housing for the night, in a sense. Chrom wasn't quite sure how he could recognize one of Septimus' men, but he approached a mercenary regardless. He asked him, "Tomorrow's going to be a good day for fishing, wouldn't you say?"

"I'd say so," said the mercenary. "What can I do for you?"

In hushed tones Ze'ev explained the arrangement between the Shepherds and Septimus. Septimus had enough foresight to send letters to his land bases, informing them of the agreement and that if the Shepherd's needed anything they were to cooperate. The mercenary, who introduced himself as Perry, lead the Shepherds three miles off the trail into the woods. There was a small, hidden village in there. The people were still chatting amongst themselves before the shops closed up for the night. Anali could only stare, slack jawed at the sight. "B-but this isn't on any of the maps!" she exclaimed.

"Of course it wouldn't," Ze'ev said nonchalantly. "Most of Septimus' followers fled from Walhart. Can't really hide from them if they're on a map."

The mercenary lead them to a large log cabin at the end of the town, there they would be staying for the night. They had a hearty dinner that night of butternut squash stuffed with vegetables and topped with cheese. Noire about burst into tears when she met her father and Donnel had taken the notion that he had a daughter in stride. He was already planning on introducing Noire to her grandma and step-grandpa. "Course, it might come as a bit of a surprise," Donnel mused. "Huh… S'pose Ma might ask a lotta questions."

"I-it's okay," Noire said with a meek smile. "I-I'm just happy to know Gram's still alive."

Severa tried to keep her defenses up around Stahl, but both Cordelia and Stahl had caught her scooting up close to him during dinner more than once. The chatter amongst the Shepherds increased with the discovery of each child. While Elaine, Henry and Julie were putting off a much needed talk, everyone seemed to be getting off quite well.

Anali was tired, but she did not want to sleep. She winced while she removed her coat and her tunic. Libra had treated her burn after the battle ended. The wound would still be tender for a few days, but it did not look as ugly as it did when Nelson hit her. The center was no longer scabby and dark, but red as though Anali had had an accident with a curling iron.

With only her brassiere covering her upper body Anali fished out the ointment Libra gave her, with the instruction to apply it on the wound before bed and in the morning. "I got it," Chrom said snatching the ointment from her hands. "Just sit yourself down."

Anali let out a small sigh as she seated herself on the edge of the bed. She didn't mind that Chrom was going to help her, but she got the feeling he was about to lecture her for endangering herself like that. She watched as Chrom removed his gloves before he removed the lid. He gathered a bit of ointment onto his fingers and dabbed it onto her neck. "Ah!" Anali winced, gripping the sheets in her hands.

"Sorry," Chrom said quickly. "I'm trying to be careful. Rough hands, I know."

"I like your hands," murmured Anali. "And your arms."

"I'll remember to work out more then," Chrom said while closing the tin. He was smiling before Anali hit him over the head with a pillow

"Not what I meant," she said.

"Oh?" he asked, leaning forward so that their foreheads touched.

"Yes, and we're still going to have to put off that long night we keep talking about," Anali said, trying to lead him away from her. "I need to work on emergency plans for the Wyvern Valley."

"Anali…"

"Chrom, the Valley's a plateau, if we're attacked we need to be careful."

"Have you looked at yourself today?" Chrom challenged, now kneeling in front of her. "You hardly slept last night, you looked exhausted this morning. You need to sleep tonight."

"I'll sleep when I'm-"

"_Don't_."

Anali bit her lower lip. Why couldn't 't Chrom understand that if they were going to avoid Lucina's future sacrifices needed to be made? Anali's sacrifice would be her personal health in exchange for peaceful times and a happy future for both Lucina's. Besides, she couldn't take much more of those dreams. She would have settled for a dreamless night than one of _those_ dreams.

She let out a slight yelp when Chrom hooked a hand under her knee in order to slide her boot off. "Wh-what are you…?" Anali tried to ask while he removed the other boot.

"Getting comfortable," Chrom said, he climbed over Anali and pulled her down so they laid down side by side. He kept one arm around Anali's torso as to keep her as close to him as possible.

"Chrom, I've got work to do," Anali said through a half-whine. "Keeping our army alive is kind of a big deal."

"Is twenty minutes going to put you back by that much?" Chrom asked, nuzzling his nose into her hair. "Besides you hurt yourself today doesn't that generally mean 'take it easy?'"

"I'd _be_ taking it easy…" Anali whimpered, her conviction wavering. "I'd be writing plans for strategies."

"Yes, but you're right handed," Chrom pointed out. "Which, if I'm not mistaken, is around the area where you were hurt. Which means you shouldn't do anymore writing tonight."

Damn it, he had a counter argument for anything Anali was about to dish out that night, didn't he? "We should be putting our all into preventing Lucina's future," she said in a last-ditch effort.

"I think we're doing fine so far," Chrom said, he got himself up so he hovered over her. "From the sounds of it our conflict with Gangrel lasted longer in her time."

Anali's first thought was 'at what cost?' but decided it was best to keep her mouth shut. "Besides," he added. "We'll have a better chance at preventing that future if everyone is in top form. Including you."

"Why do you have to be right all the time?" Anali murmured.

"Well, someone's got to keep you from overworking yourself."

She reached up and cupped her husbands face in her hand. She wasn't sure what she was feeling at the moment. Was she tired or just numb? Her dreams, her nightmares, were tearing her apart, she couldn't take much more. She was terrified of the day she couldn't tell dream from reality, if it ever came. "I love you, Chrom," she murmured. "That much I'm always certain of."

He smiled warmly before he took her hand into his and kissed the tips of her fingers. "I like your hands as well," he said.

"_This is not your-your fault…"_

He liked the hands that killed him time and time again in her dreams.

Anali turned her head to the side, avoiding Chrom's gaze. Numb. She was just numb. What sort of sick, twisted person was she to even dream about killing her beloved, adoring husband? Chrom, the love of her life, father of her child, her husband. And what was Anali? Some amnesiac with twisted dreams. No. In the end Ylisse could afford to loose Anali. Not Chrom.

If it ever came down to it, Anali was fully prepared to die for him.

"Hey," Chrom said, lowering himself so that their foreheads touched. "The way I see it Lucina's future-self just proves that it's the natural order."

That snapped Anali out of her drank and dreary thoughts. "The natural order?" she repeated with a laugh.

"Of course. The sun rises and sets. Winter becomes spring. And Chrom always loves Anali."

Anali blinked once. She rolled onto her side, gripping her stomach while she laughed. "I thought that was a good one," Chrom muttered, laying back down beside his wife. He reached over the edge and pulled up a book. "Now where were we…"

"Me going to take notes."

"Nope. Here we go.

"Tanis looked uninterested in what the villagers had to say. But she responded, 'You cannot gain anything from nothing, if you want you must give in return. You must bring me something I could possibly want within three days. Do that and I will be your village's personal champion. Fail and consider yourselves dead, for I care not what happens to you.'"

The story went onto explain the villagers confusion. What on earth could Tanis possibly want? And she was just leaving them to guess what she wanted. Some were turning in the towel. It was the end of the village, better run while they still could.

But in the village a soldier called Aran was on leave due to injury. He thought about Tanis' demand nonstop, trying to dissect her words. She had the power to help, the soothsayer wouldn't have suggested they go to her if she didn't. But she seemed to live alone in a drank place. It was childish, Aran knew, but perhaps Tanis was seeking companionship.

On the third day Aran arrived a Tanis' home.

"'So,' she said, 'have you brought me something I could want?'" Chrom read. He laid on his back and held the book up with one hand. "'I believe so,' said Aran, 'if you give my village the protection it seeks, then I will stay with you until the end of my days.'

"Tanis was taken aback by this, did this man not know what he was getting himself into? For three days the villagers were offering her various foods and items, but here was some man offering himself. 'Very well,' Tanis replied. 'I accept. But understand you are to stay on my grounds. One toe out of line and I will destroy your village myself.'"

He stopped there, the candle that lit the room was beginning to go out and he was starting to feel dreariness take its hold over him. Chrom turned his head to the side to find Anali sleeping peacefully. "Works every time," he muttered before he blew out the candle.

* * *

The next morning, Perry explained that as a whole, they were gathering volunteer's for an army against Walhart. All they needed was the order to go and they would dispatch against Valm's military. He offered the Shepherds fresh bread and vegetables for their journey to the Wyvern Valley, while they sent plenty of provisions to their ship, ready when they returned.

By that afternoon they finally arrived at the Wyvern Valley. Or rather, the village just outside it's borders. Cherche was ecstatic to be back after so long. She claimed that Minerva was equally livid, but everyone just took her word for it. Virion tried to match his fiancé's enthusiasm, but having never been to the Wyvern Valley and had known Minerva about as long as he had known Cherche didn't share the same sentimentality Cherche did.

"It's like we're children again, huh Minervykins," Cherche murmured, nuzzling the wyverns muzzle.

She could remember it like it was yesterday, a young would-be Cleric wrestling down a young wyvern at the tender age of nine. Then they were inseparable ever since. "This place is quite nice," Virion noted as they traveled the town. "Perhaps we shall come back for our honeymoon."

"Oh, look dear Minerva," Cherche said sweetly, "I think Ari's trying to impress us."

"That depends, is it working?"

Minerva opened her mouth for a moment and Cherche giggled. "Minervykins seems to think so."

Virion placed a hand over his heart. "Dear Minerva honors me with her compliment."

Cherche covered her mouth and giggled demurely. It was working on her, too. She knew that if she ever took a husband they needed to love Minerva as much as they loved her. With Virion he didn't need to be told, he already knew that Minerva was part of the package.

"It is as milady said," Frederick said walking beside Chrom. "The Valley itself is on a plateau miles above ground. A fitting place for wyverns."

"I think what I'm more worried about is a wyvern attacking us while we search," said Chrom.

"We might be safe with Ms. Dupont's Minerva. Wild wyverns might see us as her territory."

"Do you really think that'll happen?"

"Well-"

"Someone please!" a man shouted a he sprinted into the village. "Please help! My friends will die otherwise!"

"What happened?" Chrom asked, approaching the man.

"I was just chased out of the Wyvern Valley by a pack of armed brigands, sir," the man explained quickly. "We were separated, I think they're still there."

"Well, you're in luck. We'll aid you and your friends."

"Oh," the man breathed out in relief, "thank you!"

Instantly, Chrom turned his gaze to the sky. "Anali."

"I heard," his wife said as Amalthea landed on the ground. "Lucina."

Their daughter pushed her way through the mass of Shepherds. "Mother?" she asked upon squeezing herself pass her father and Frederick's horses.

"I want you to take Amalthea, watch out for the villagers," Anali explained. Lucina nodded and proceeded to mount herself onto Amalthea. "According to Cherche and the maps she provided there's a few rope bridges, but I'd rather avoid those if we can. So if we can help it, we stay on the plateau. We've got Lucina providing aerial protection to the villagers and I want Cynthia to join her, but we need ground protection. Nowi, Libra,"

"I'm here!" Nowi called, waving her hand in the air.

"I want you two with the villagers. Elaine, Henry and Ricken, you three are with Nowi and Libra."

Elaine bit her lower lip. She couldn't decide if this was a genuine strategy on Anali's part, or if she was trying to get her to talk things over with Henry. "I'll fight on the frontline," Cherche volunteered. She wasn't about to let anyone defile Minerva's childhood home.

In the Wyvern Valley, five village men tried to hide from the bandits lead by one who called himself Morristan. He raved about rounding up the wild wyvern's to sell. Above the villagers was a young man atop an ageing wyvern. He wore a black mask that covered the upper half of his face. His light blue hair was styled back, out of his eyes. He was rather indifferent to the villagers plight, however he did not appreciate this Morristan character doing what he wanted with his wyvern's motherland.

A number of soldiers suddenly surrounded the villagers. Two pegasi, a griffin and a wyvern flew to the four corners of the valley, the wyvern headed right for the young rider. Another two pegasi stayed above the five villagers while five others stayed with them. Morristan shouted orders at his men, and immediately the army sprinted across the closest rope bridges.

"Excuse me," the army's wyvern rider, a woman with long pink hair said to the young rider. Seated behind her was a man with blue hair and a bow in his hands. "You're not one of the villagers?"

"No," the young man said trying to avoid Cherche's gaze. "I am… Gerome, a traveler."

"And a fellow wyvern rider, I see," Cherche said with a sunny smile. "This is a piece of good news! We fight to keep the villagers alive. Will you aid us?"

"Why?" answered Gerome. "No man can stop fate."

"I'm afraid it isn't so much fate that will kill these men," Virion pointed out. "Rather it will be spears."

"Spoken like one who has yet to witness fate's implacable cruelty," Gerome said bitterly.

"So you do nothing, then," Cherche challenged. "Save wandering the land in a fog of cowardice? What of your wyvern? Has she seen enough? Does she also yearn to surrender so easily?"

The young rider remained silent for a moment. "You would know better than I," he said at length.

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing. I'll fight if you wish it. Death will always have its due, but perhaps it will accept a few substitutions."

Cherche peered over her shoulder at Virion and the two exchanged confused looks. Well, it was better than just avoiding the problem. At least that's what Cherche thought.

"When this is over," Anali said stepping over a broken plank, "we needed to get the villagers to fix these damn things."

"Yeah," Anna said reluctantly in agreement, "I actually wouldn't mind spending money on this."

Chrom knew what Anali meant. The rope bridges were clearly old, planks were either missing or broken. The rope that kept the bridge suspended looked like it was going to unravel at any time. If these bandits didn't kill the villager, the rope bridges would.

The Shepherds spread out across the various bridges. They were headed towards the man shouting orders, and somehow Anna ended up tagging along. It wasn't anything Anali was complaining about, she was a healer after all. There was a good advantage to having one close by. "Head's up!" Tybalt shouted, throwing an axe at a Wyvern Rider overhead.

Anali wrapped her arms around the rope railing when the rider plummeted inches away from her. The bridge shook slightly, and she waiting until it was remotely still before she chased after Chrom and Anna.

It shouldn't have been this difficult. It should have been a simple in and out job. Round up the wyvern's and leave. They shouldn't have had to come across some ragtag vigilantes. Morristan shouted order at his subordinates as Chrom and Anali were just meters away from him at the closest bridge.

"Seems these newcomers have spines," Morristan said, pulling a couple of tomahawks from his belt. "All the more to break, then!"

He tossed one tomahawk at the suspension post, snapping the rope keeping the bridge up. The bridge swayed instantly. "Go, go!" Anali shouted before Morristan threw the second tomahawk.

Chrom sprinted across the bridge, stepping over the broken planks effortlessly. Morristan released his axe. The Exalt leapt foreword, landing on solid ground before the blade connected with the rope. He heard the thunk of the blade hitting wood, followed by the creak of a collapsing bridge.

He looked over his shoulder just in time to catch a glimpse of Anali and Anna before they lost anything to stand on.

* * *

**Authors Note: **So… Corrin's in Smash now… (well, not till February…) Damn it, Nintendo! I mean it's great marketing for the west, but damn it!

I _swear_ Sev's just letting out bad feels that's been building up for five plus years. She's not going to be as harsh in future chapters.

Anali… really hasn't been having some healthy thoughts as of late.


	35. Chapter Thirty-Five

**Chapter Thirty-Five  
Twin Wyverns**

Patients was the key to any good plan, and the Hierophant had been playing the waiting game for the better part of two years now. Sure, they could have just taken what they needed as soon as the Hierophant revealed her identity to Validar. But it would have been so fun to watch Anali and Lucina's worlds fall apart. And _she_ would have been helpless to do anything about it.

It was going to be so wonderful.

But, today, the Hierophant was bored.

She strolled around the many halls of the Loptorus Temple with her Risen close by. The hierophant could have toyed with _her_, but doing so would have just come and went until the next time. Where was the fun in doing that every day? No, what she needed was something that could last for a few days.

She needed… she needed…

The Hierophant's brow perked up when she heard the _clack, clack _of a second set of heels against the tile floor. Aversa walked down the hall in steady strides. A large book was held close to her chest as though it were a security blanket. As soon as the Dark Flier realized she was about to cross paths with the Hierophant her gaze darkened.

Oh, this was just too perfect.

"Aversa," the Hierophant said in the sweetest tone she could. "How are you, darling?"

Aversa stopped in her track and stared long and hard at the Hierophant. Was she trying to be condescending towards her? The Hierophant, who had Validar's undivided attention since he discovered her two years ago. She could have told Validar to jump and he would have asked 'how high?' Not even towards his own son or Aversa herself would Validar had given this much devotion to.

And Aversa hated the Hierophant for it.

Validar had about as much love for Aversa as he did for Arun _before_ he defected, which is to say none at all. Aversa never pretended as much, but he was everything she knew of love and kindness. Others turned her away when she was just a street orphan, but Validar welcomed her with open arms. He was, by all means, a father to her.

She spent her life doing everything she could to please him. From working with Gangrel and fanning the flames of hatred, be it for Plegia's former king or Ylisse, to playing diplomat with the civilians and Grimleal. Yet the Hierophant got to waltz in and take Validar's attention.

Now that she thought about it, she probably would have hated Anali just as much if she were here now.

"Master," Aversa said with a forced smile. How hard was it for her to think of this woman, who only appeared nine years her junior, to be the one the Grimleal had been waiting centuries for. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Maybe," the Hierophant said with a slight list of her head. "I regret to say that we never really met where I'm from. Such a shame, really, to never have met one of my devoted followers."

Please. Aversa knew just what kind of tact the Hierophant was playing. How often did Aversa get men to spill everything with just a few sweet words and a bat of her eyes? The Hierophant wasn't fooling her. "Oh?" she replied as sweetly as possible. "And this is you getting to know me, Master?"

"But of course!" the Hierophant said just as sweetly. "Can you imagine what things could have been like if we grew up together in my time? Imagine what you could have taught me. Imagine the screams I could have gotten from your lessons. Aversa…"

"What?" the Dark Flier asked irritably.

"Well, I was just thinking, Aversa, such an archaic name. Of course it doesn't say 'temptress' like Anju does."

"Anju?" Aversa asked, her brow furrowing.

"Anju, your…" the Hierophant's voice trailed off. Her brow rose. "Oh… oh, so you don't know? Oh no…"

Aversa wasn't sure what angered her more, the Hierophant's condescendence or the fact that she was blatantly dangling a carrot in front of her face. "My what?" Aversa asked, trying to keep her voice calm and neutral. "Pray tell, what don't I know?"

"Oh, but I shouldn't," said the Hierophant, "I've already said too much."

"You can cut the act, Master," Aversa shot back. "You weren't being subtle and you were not trying to be."

"Well, I was just simply wondering what the story was behind the name change."

"What name change? I've always been Aversa."

"Have you?" the Hierophant inquired. "In our records the name of the maiden fitting your description is listed as Anju Mahto. This person even has the same birthday as you. The resemblance is astounding…"

"What are you implying?" Aversa asked darkly.

"Hmm… What indeed?" the Hierophant said coolly.

Smiling to herself, the Hierophant and her Risen strolled past Aversa. She may have hated waiting, but watching what Aversa would do now that the seeds were planted would be so gratifying.

* * *

The rough wood pinched her hand while it held her entire weight. She made not a peep since the bridge first fell, but inside she was screaming, desperate for something to stand on. Anali managed to grab onto the last plank, which left most of her dangling in mid-air. Above her, Anna proved to be just a bit faster during their fall, and was therefore able to use the planks as a foothold. Anna most certainly had the right idea.

Anali grabbed onto the plank with both hands; she took a deep breath in, bracing herself. Putting her all into it, she lifted herself up while reaching up for another plank.

With a crack, Anali lost the only thing that kept her from falling.

Panne slid onto her backside, changing back into her small, more agile form. She stopped just as she reached the edge of the plateau and grabbed onto Olivia's arm. The pink haired Dancer latched onto Panne instantly as the Taguel pulled her back up. Almost as soon as Olivia was back on solid ground she screamed loud enough that Panne nearly fell off the plateau herself in fright.

One of the Berserkers was standing right over them. Panne could have taken him with or without her beaststone, had her back not been to him as he lifted an axe to strike. Olivia wrapped her hand around the hilt of her sword, but this man out-classed her. A flash of forest green appeared right in front of them. He blocked the attack with the guard on his shoulder. He turned towards the attacker, his own axe hit into the Berserker. Stealing the opportunity Panne drove her fist into the man's face. She had transformed before he could get up and try again. With the added power, she was able to kick him straight off the plateau. "Well, I suppose you tried," she quipped.

If Noire held onto her waist any tighter Lucina wasn't sure what was going to happen to her. She wasn't even sure if Noire was afraid of being on a pegasus, or if she was afraid of falling. And the only reason she didn't ask was because Noire looked like she might start bawling if she opened her mouth.

It would have been nice to at least have an archer with her against the Wyvern Riders, but she could kind of see why it wouldn't work. Wyvern's had thick hides, Lucina imagined Noire would need special, stronger arrows.

An axe came hurtling in their direction. Lucina heard Noire squeak and hold onto her waist tighter before she could urge Amalthea to move. The axe whizzed by, missing them completely, it landed at the feet of one of the villagers; he was smart enough to grab it just incase.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lucina spotted another wyvern fly up to the enemy rider. In all the black and dark colors he wore his blue hair stood out. Gerome's axe cut into the attacker, hard enough that the man fell off his wyvern. If he wasn't dead yet, he was going to be in due time.

Lucina smiled when Gerome peered over his shoulder in her direction. It was a relief to find that Gerome was right where she was expecting him to be. And it was just as wonderful to see him again.

Her back stiffened as soon as she heard the splintering of wood, followed by the scream that promptly followed. Anna could almost feel her ponytail stand up on end. Gods if she survived this she would give every sun to her name if it meant these bridges could be replaced.

A wyvern, presumably one of the wild ones, flew past her. Oh boy…

And then came the vibration that traveled down the bridge. The dull _whack, whack _of a blade on wood reached her ears shortly after. She looked up to find one of the brigands trying to cut one of the ropes that kept Anna up.

Another whack of the axe sent another vibration down the bridge, and the right side fell, Anna clung onto the bridge as it swung off kilter. Damn, this really wasn't her day.

She looked up to find the man raising his axe, ready to work on the other side. In a blur of white and blue, the man was tackled to the ground. "Move, now!" she heard Priam shout.

Self-preservation kicking in, Anna reached up for the plank above her. She hated the awkward angle she was climbing. Her heart nearly leapt out of her throat when a limp body fell over the edge of the cliff. The bridge started to move on it's own; Anna forced herself to look up again as soon as it stopped.

Priam was on his knees, holding the broken end of the bridge level with the other side. Anna bit back a smile as she continued to pull herself up. As soon as her hands made contact with solid ground Priam quickly released the bridge and pulled Anna up himself. He held her close to him, it hardly seemed like that long ago he looked like he was on an execution block for just wrapping an arm around her.

Such strong arms though…

Two screams broke Anna out of her trance. She just caught sight of a red haired girl with pigtails being pushed over the edge of the cliff while her partner had started to panic. A griffin flew over head and dove straight for the fallen girl. That would have been nice to know earlier.

Chrom hated that he couldn't see what happened to them after the bridge gave out. He heard someone scream moments later, and his stomach dropped. He heard something similar three more times. Morristan wouldn't let him see what was happening. The man attacked him with vigor, Chrom was playing on the defense while trying to stay as far away from the edge as possible.

They could never make it easy, could they?

Morristan had gotten a bit daring with one of his attacks. He would have cut an ugly gash into Chrom's arm if he hadn't moved when he did. Instead, Morristan had just cut a thin line into his lower bicep. It was going to bleed regardless, but it was better than the alternative.

He fought through the pain. He drew his arm back with the full intention of cutting into Morristan's side. His axe blocked Chrom's sword with a metallic _clang_. They traded blows, traded blocks. This was getting tedious. Chrom just wanted to know what became of his wife, how his daughter was holding up, what the state of his Shepherds were in on a dangerous battlefield. Just a little conformation, that's all he wanted.

Chrom heard a sickening _thunk_. While not full-out screaming, Morristan dropped down on one knee while an arrow was sticking out of the back of the opposite knee. The Exalt could see Arun standing in the center of one of the bridges. He held a bow in one hand that had a vibrating string.

Crouching low, Chrom took advantage of the situation and drove Falchion into Morristran's abdomen. He pushed the blade in so far that the hilt touched Morristan's person. The man's arms fell limp at his sides before Chrom even considered removing the sword.

By then most of Morristan's men, particularly the Wyvern Riders, had been taken care of. There were wyvern's gliding around with saddles and harnesses, but missing riders. The villagers were starting to look hopeful and relaxed. And then there were members of the Shepherds who were on their knees, looking over the edge of the plateau desperately.

Chrom could almost here a collective sigh of relief when Falkor flew up, level with the plateau, carrying his rider and a small handful of people on his back. There was a bit of a fight for space on the griffin's backside, mostly Severa and Donnel elbowing each other for room, while Ricken was caught in the crossfire. And then there was Anali, thank goodness, who was yelling at them to settle down before someone fell.

"And this, folks," Tybalt said smugly, "is why you always have a griffin with you."

With the villager's safe, there was a minor issue of the new wyvern's added to the valley. There was argument amongst the village, they could be violent, they could attack the village. But after much persuasion from the village elder and Cherche the villagers reluctantly agreed to see how things played out naturally.

Relieved Cherche parted from the crowd and went in search for the young Wyvern Rider. He was with his wyvern, specifically in the middle of giving her a dead rabbit. With one look alone Cherche could tell that the wyvern was clearly in her twilight years, but she was very much impressed that she still had a lot of fight in her. "Excuse me," Cherche said, approaching the young man. "Do you have a moment?"

Gerome looked over his shoulder, his expression impossible to read thanks to his mask. "What is it?" he asked simply.

"I was hoping, if it's not too bold, that you might introduce me to your wyvern."

"Why?"

"To see which of ours is cutter," she said with a giggle. "Not very sporting of me when mine is the finest in the world, I know."

Gerome's head turned slightly. "Do as you please," he said at length.

"I will, then, thank you!" Cherche said giddily as she approached the wyvern. She seemed to take to Cherche almost instantly, allowing her to nuzzle her. The old girl could have been purring in sheer bliss.

"But you are quite cute…" Cherche said, more to herself than to anyone else. She circled around the wyvern once. How strange, this wyvern had old battle scars in the exact same places as Minerva and new ones. They even had the same face.

The same…

"_Minerva?!_" she asked outloud before turning to Gerome. "What sorcery is this? She's identical to my sweet Minerva."

Gerome turned his head to the side again. "That's because they're one and the same," he said briskly.

Cherche was about to ask how that could have been possible, but the answer came to her in mere seconds. Of course the friend they came here for would be her child. Heck, even with his mask on she could see some similarities between him and Virion. Their hair color for starters, but Gerome also had Ari's forehead. "I see," Cherche said with a sunny smile. "So then you're-"

"I am," Gerome cut her off, "though I had not intended for us to meet."

"Why not?" Cherche asked, trying not to sound hurt.

"I came back in time so I might release Minerva," Gerome said, placing a hand on the old wyvern's neck. "Not to seek out parents to whom I've already bidden farewell."

"You crossed the bounds of time just to set her free? Whatever for?"

"In the future I know, she is among the last of her kind," he explained. "I… I could not leave her to that solitude. I wanted her to live out the rest of her years in peace."

Cherche had to smile at this. "She is lucky indeed to know someone of such kindness," she said. "As am I, I imagine."

"Stay your words," Gerome said irritably. "I've no intention of getting close to either your or Ari. Fate will not be mocked. This war may claim your lives anew, and I'll not weep twice for losing the same mother and father. My burden is heavy enough."

"But you carry it still," Cherche pointed out.

"That's… enough," Gerome said at length.

* * *

"Ow! Not so rough!" Chrom snapped.

"Well, maybe next time you'll be more careful, then!" Lissa snapped back, rubbing vulnerary onto the wound. "It probably wouldn't hurt to learn magic yourself. You might avoid accidents like this."

"Thanks, but I'll leave the magic to you and Anali in this family."

"You think we taught Lucina and Owain magic in their time?" Lissa asked almost thinking outloud. "I want to ask, but at the same time I don't want to pry too much."

Chrom understood what she meant. He thought about the times Lucina said 'us' or 'we' instead of 'I' or 'me.' He wanted to think that Lucina meant Owain, but he had his suspicions.

"I'll take it from here, Lissa," Anali said stealing the siblings attention. "I think Frederick is looking for you anyway. Something about Owain's hand and boiling blood I think…"

Lissa let out a slightly exasperated sigh. "I'll go explain it to Frederick before he tears the village apart," she said with a half-smile.

Pursing her lips, Anali rummaged through the supplies Lissa brought out until she found the cloth bandage. She knelt down to the wound's level and started to wrap the bandage around Chrom's arm.

His brow rose when Chrom heard his wife humming while she worked. Aside from quiet lullabies to their baby, he hadn't known Anali to be much of a singer. Most of her musical knowledge usually came out in the form of her ocarina. What music Anali did know varied, sometimes it was a common Ylissean folksong, other's sounded like it could have come from either Chon'sin, Rossane, Plegia, or even Regna Ferox. Anali usually had no answer for how she knew them, or when she learned them.

But this tune she was humming was something he hadn't heard before. It was just the same five notes over and over. No change. There was something oddly… _maternal_ about the tune. It was something Chrom could easily see a mother singing to comfort a child. He was tempted to ask if the song consisted of just those five notes or not.

He did not move until Anali knotted the dressings; when he looked her in the face Chrom was taken aback. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Hm?"

It took Anali three heartbeats to realize that tears had been sliding down her cheeks. Her fingers brushed against the wet surface, confirming the tears existence. Her brow knitted together for a moment. "I… I don't know," Anali said trying to dry her eyes as quickly as possible. "Maybe I'm allergic to something."

Without warning, Chrom took her by the arm and pulled her into his lap. "What about you?" he asked wrapping his arms around her. "Do we need to get you stitched up again?"

"Nope," Anali said smugly. She held up her hands, her fingers spread apart, to prove it. "The worst it got is a couple of harmless scratches. Other than that my hands feel like I've been lugging wood."

"Good," said Chrom. He took Anali's hand and pressed her palm against his cheek.

"Chrom, someone's going to see…" Anali said sheepishly. Her eyes tried to avoid his gaze while her face reddened.

"Let them," Chrom replied, lowering his head so that their foreheads touched. "We're not doing anything wrong."

No. They weren't. They were married, and there was nothing wrong with a man playfully flirting with, cherishing, or teasing his wife. Even Anali didn't quite understand why she wanted to run and hide whenever Chrom displayed affection like this in the open. Why she was afraid of being seen when they were just cuddling. Anali thought back to the first days after she met Chrom. She was fairly shy back then, not quite like Olivia, but she was always making an effort to hide herself whenever attention was on her. Perhaps her shyness from those days had something to do with this shyness now?

She started to squirm in place when Chrom pulled down her tunic's collar. Small giggles rang in his ears as he left a trail of kisses along her neck, careful not to irritate her burn. "Chrom…" Anali said through her laughter. "Chrom, please. Someone's going to-"

"Now…" Lucina said playfully, "what was that you were saying, Father? About making you and Mother out to be fawning lovebirds?"

Anali went rigid; her face instantly went red. Speaking of shyness…

"You just caught us at an awkward time," Chrom said, allowing Anali's hand to fall against her chest. "Anything we can help you with, Lucina?"

"Sir Frederick wishes to prepare the others for our next move. We're still missing six others who came back with us but…"

"Tell Frederick we're heading back to the hidden village," said Chrom. "We'll begin our trip back to the ship the day after tomorrow."

"But Father!" Lucina argued. "We're in the middle of a war, and we've wasted enough time as it-"

Chrom couldn't help but laugh. "You're starting to sound like your mother," he said.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Anali asked recovering from her stupor.

"Maybe that's a good thing," Lucina argued.

"I… think Chrom's right," Anali said. "We've been traveling for days. The occasional respite is good for mental health…"

Her voice trailed off. On the one hand she was with Lucina, they were in the middle of war and they apparently had six more of her friends to find. On the other hand, she knew Chrom would argue with her, and she knew Chrom would use her as a prime example of why they should take a day of rest. His wife who threw herself into danger the day before, his wife who took a fall that very day, his wife who was becoming childish when it came to sleep. It was an argument Anali just didn't feel like fighting.

"B-but…" Lucina argued weakly. Even her own conviction was beginning to waver.

"I'm sure your friends could use a little time to recuperate," Chrom added delicately.

She bit her lower lip. They were right, this finish-it-as-soon-as-possible attitude was going to cause more harm than good. Really, Lucina and the other's should be taking advantage of this, such respite was almost unheard of back in their own era. "I-I'll… inform Sir Frederick," Lucina said through a sigh.

Almost as soon as Lucina was out of ear shot, Chrom asked, "Can I get that in writing?"

Anali quirked a brow at him. "Get what in writing?" she asked.

"You admitting that I was right."

Her face twisted as she pretended to think. "Ehhh…" she drawled out.

She was only able to catch Chrom's devilish smirk for a split second before he went back to kissing her neck. Now with a few added nips, the delightfully tickle Anali got was no longer as tantalizing. She fought harder to get out of her husband's lap, but he proved to be stronger than she.

What surprised Lucina was that Sir Frederick was fairly cooperative with her parents. He made the announcement that they would move as soon as the army's healers had taken care of the injured. Lucina searched the army while they conversed among themselves, packing up their medical supplies and readying their horses.

She found Gerome with the elder Minerva, separated from the group, separated from even the elder Rosella. Minerva seemed to be using their time to catch up on her sleep, while Gerome was gently trying to wake her. "Gerome?" Lucina asked, making her presence known.

Instantly Gerome looked over his shoulder at her before he turned around fully. "I'm not intruding, am I?" she asked eyeing Minerva, who was just beginning to stir. "I don't want to startle her."

"It's fine," Gerome said simply. "What do you want?"

"Well, nothing, really," Lucina said listing her head to the side ever so briefly. "I just came to say thank you."

Mask or no mask, Lucina could still see the confusion on his face. It was all in his mouth. "For what?" he asked.

"The mask," Lucina steppled her fingers together, "you gave me one of your masks, remember?"

Of course he did. He made it specifically for her as soon as he caught word of her plan. In theory they all could have blended into the crowd easily, but the instant someone looked Lucina in the face they would have seen her Brand. Owain could hide his by just putting on a shirt. Gerome knew right off that it would be better to ready a mask for Lucina and let her know that it was available to her should she want it. "I do…" he said wistfully.

"It was very prescient of you," Lucina complimented. Her smile died slowly. "Though I regret to say it was damaged…"

"No," Gerome said quickly. Too quickly, he feared. "No, you don't… you don't need to worry yourself about it."

"Well…" Lucina's voice trailed off for a moment. Her hands balled together. "It was quite useful while it lasted. I can't thank you enough."

Gerome managed a slight smile. "Think nothing of it."

Lucina flashed him one last smile before she said her good-byes for the time being and turned back towards the army.

* * *

They returned to the pirate village in the late afternoon. Their host, Perry seemed to see this coming as he had a particularly large meal planed for them that evening, and informed the ladies about the spring they were free to use.

Panne did not allow herself a moment to relax. Gregor was on her tail, following her since the Wyvern Valley. The taguel hid herself on the outskirts of the village, not quite on the path, but not quite in the village either. Perhaps now he would finally take the hint.

"Ah-ha! Gregor finds you!"

Instantly, Panne whipped around to find Gregor standing right beside her. His arms were crossed over his chest while he started beaming smugly. "How did you…?" Panne began utterly shocked.

"Why does Panne hide from Gregor?" the man asked with a mock pout. "Do you hate him so?"

"You're becoming a reckless fool when you're near me," Panne shot back. "I'd rather not be responsible for a comrade's death. Directly or indirectly."

"You worry about old man too much," Gregor said through a hearty laugh. "Gregor knows well how to protect self."

"I don't need you hovering around trying to defend me all the time!" Panne snapped. She was not going to have one of her friends blood on her hands. Especially since it was easily avoidable.

Gregor's haughtiness died down. "But is not about what you need," he said, his voice no longer as bombastic as Panne had known him to be. "Is about what Gregor need."

Uncoiling his arms from each other, Gregor reached into the pouch connected to his belt. "If Gregor gives you one good reason, will you let him protect you?" he asked.

Panne had half a mind to turn him down right then and there. Gregor had a responsibility to keep himself safe first and foremost. She wanted Gregor to focus more on him and less on her. But it did seem rather rude to just dismiss him. At the very least, she should hear him out. "Very well," Panne said simply, her arms crossed over her chest. "It had better be a very good reason."

At a moment's pause Gregor finally said at length, "Gregor is wanting to marry you."

"Are you…" Panne's voice trailed off. Her arms immediately fell limp at her side. At this point Panne was vary familiar with the human custom of marriage, the taguel's had a similar custom. But instead of the exchange of rings they would cut themselves and press the wounds together, exchanging blood. They didn't call themselves husband and wife either, they were just mates. It was as much a serious commitment to her people as it was to humans.

"Is this one of your japes?" Panne asked at length.

"Gregor never joke about love!" Gregor said with a hand over his heart. His eyes rolled to the side as he continued. "_Weeell_, not this time. Here, see?"

He produced a ring, with a smooth, milky brown stone held in place. "You know what ring mean for human, yes?" Gregor said somewhat sheepishly. "No joke, is love."

Panne just stood in place, eyes wide, she looked downright frazzled. If her ears weren't intertwined with her braids they would have been standing up on end. Gregor was almost certain that she was going to reject him right then and there. But instead Panne bent over at the waist and started to scream.

The sound was loud enough to cause anyone within earshot to jump. From the villagers, to the local animals. Even Gregor nearly leapt out of his skin; he nearly dropped the ring in the process. "Oy!" Gregor said as soon as Panne finished. "Why do you make with the screaming?!"

"I am releasing the pain and anger from my heart," Panne said straightening herself up. "Isn't that what you told me to do? If I was to make friends with anyone."

"Ah, yes," Gregor said rubbing the back of his head. "Gregor did say that. So, what is result?"

The taguel paused for a moment, her brow knitted together in thought. She had mixed feelings no doubt. But some were more easily identifiable than others. "I am not sure," she confessed. "I am feeling many strange things. Joy? Contentment? Even… hope? I have not felt this way since I was young."

"Gregor is delighted!" the man said holding his arms out at his side. "His heart is swelling to burstiness!"

"Not so fast," Panne said, poking Gregor in the chest. "I will agree to marriage, but you don't get to protect me all the time, understand? We're going to protect each other."

Crossing his arms, Gregor nodded once, solemnly. "Very good," he said before opening his arms wide again. "Now you come, little bunny! Jump into Gregor's arms!"

Panne crossed her own arms and smiled a lopsided grin. "One step at a time."

That evening after dinner Gregor dipped into his own savings and bought drinks all around for the men in the Shepherds while the women spent their evening in the spring. He was in a state of euphoria, on a 'recently engaged' high. Frederick and Libra served as the primary 'protectors' should anyone prove to have a little too much to drink.

Lon'qu learned fairly quickly that Inigo had not inherited his tolerance for alcohol. Or perhaps Lon'qu just developed it over the years. True, Khan Basilio teased the heck out of Flavia and her drinking habits, but truth be told Basilio was a drinker that could rival Khan Flavia.

"I think it's just us tonight," Tybalt said before taking a swig.

"Huh?" Arun asked, sitting across the table from him.

"Well, with Henry and his little thing with Elaine, I wouldn't call him single anymore. Gregor and Panne are a thing now. And Priam's actually thinking of going for it with Anna, so I think that leaves the two of us as the pure single guys."

All Arun could do was stare dumbly at him. "And I should care because… why?" he asked.

"I can't in good conscience take them out for a guys night if they're all married," said Tybalt.

"I'm pretty sure you never had a guys night," Arun pointed out.

"And I can't _now_. Geez, you and Priam worry yourselves over the details..."

Arun took a swig of his ale, wondering why Tybalt was single in an army where everyone was either married, engaged, or in the process of hooking up. He was a stranger to the Shepherds, so it was little wonder he hadn't formed any romantic attachments yet (although that one Pegasus Knight was kind of cute). And he wasn't even going to think about trying his luck with any of his comrades children. What was Tybalt's reason? "So, are you waiting for the right girl?" asked Arun.

"Hm?" Tybalt inquired.

"Well, you're making a huge deal about being a single guy, so I was just wondering…"

"Oh, no," Tybalt said with the shake of the head. "I'm afraid I like the same thing as most of the ladies in this army."

Arun uttered thoughtfully, "Oh…"

Tybalt started to stare at him with a slightly amused look. A looked that seemed to clearly read 'go on, figure it out.' Arun only looked at the Griffin Rider in confusion. He replayed Tybalt's words over and over in his head, trying to dissect what he said.

Arun's eyes widened. "_Ohhh_…"

"Now you got it," Tybalt said through a smile.

Lucina let out a content sigh as she rested her head back. If the men were going to end up drinking themselves to sleep, the ladies would relax in the spring. She couldn't say she was completely surprised when the women divvied up between the mothers and daughters. Cynthia seemed to enjoy herself in a similar manner as Lucina, just tilting her head back and relaxing. Noire was trying make herself as small as possible while Julie and Severa were just blowing bubbles in the water. Out of the two of them Severa seemed the most content while Julie was just trying to keep herself from ranting about her situation.

Over at the mothers Lucina spotted her own mother awkwardly conversing with Severa's mother. While Lucina tried to be polite to everyone she never could ignore the fact that Miss. Cordelia really hurt Severa by clinging onto a married man who wasn't her husband. Of course she knew there were other things that hurt Severa but couldn't be helped. How one chooses to remember their late spouse _was_, however. "Does anyone here know where the other's could be?" Lucina asked. "I think we may end up finding Anya by pure dumb luck, but…"

"Gerome's the only one who actually said where he wanted to end up," said Cynthia. "And it wasn't with his parents."

"I know that. That was the best place to start. But no one else had a destination like that?"

"Even if they did, I don't think they'd be able to get there as easily as Gerome," Severa pointed out. "Minerva's still a pretty strong flier, so I don't think it would've taken him that long to get to the Wyvern Valley. I wouldn't even be surprised if he said he was living in that town for a while."

"Em…" Noire said meekly. "Don't-don't you find it a little odd that so many of us ended up in Valmese territory?"

"I was just trying to avoid getting into the war two years ago," said Severa. That, and she didn't want to meet her mother until she was with Stahl.

"Same here," said Cynthia. "And Inigo said he didn't want to accidentally screw up his parent's romance-"

The girls, plus the mother's, turned to look at Julie when she started screaming underwater. It was a high-pitched sound that produced many large bubbles that burst as soon as they met the air. "Do you think she's mad?" Cynthia whispered.

"_Yes_," spat Severa, "I think she's mad."

"Well, you would be too, if _your_ parents refused to talk to each other," Julie said after she lifted her head up.

On the other side of the pool Elaine started to lower herself deeper and deeper into the water. "I… think she's trying to drop you a hint," Cordelia said meekly.

"Hgnh…"

Julie made it sound so easy. Even if Elaine wanted to explain to Henry how she felt about this, she wouldn't know how to start.

Olivia suddenly let out a scream as a black mass underwater started to rise to the surface. The mass became more rounded as it slowly broke through the surface. Tharja was up to her nose in water with her hair floating out around her. Nowi, Lissa, and Sully burst out laughing at this.

Between the buzz of the alcohol and testosterone inside Arun was in dire need of air. He stretched his arms over his head, feeling slightly off balanced as he walked. He looked up at the fence, shielding the spring from all. But that did not seem to stop someone from pressing their face against it. "Huh?" Arun questioned as he walked up to the person. He spotted wild blond hair the closer he got. "Vaike? What do you think you're doing?"

Yelping, Vaike dropped a blank book. With a gulp, he turned his head around to look at Arun. "Me? Why, nothin','" Vaike said quickly. "A whole lot of nothin'."

"Really?" Arun asked; he crossed his arms over his chest. "Because it looks to me like you're trying to spy on the women and take notes. You're not doing anything unsavory, are you? And if you are, I will have no part of it."

"Hey! What are you taking me for? I'm very much committed to Miriel, thank you very much. I'm just doing her a favor."

"A favor?"

"Yeah. She wanted me to take notes about female bonding from the male perspective, or something like that. She's doing the opposite right now."

Arun listed his head to the side and pursed his lips. Miriel had to do this while the women were enjoying the spring? Okay, so this did seem like something Miriel would do, but she could have time this a bit better. "You could always pitch in if you want," Vaike suggested with a wink and a grin.

"Yeah, thanks, but no," Arun said shaking his head. "Not when I know for a fact that I've got a sister and niece in there."

"Hey, suit yourself. Granted the view isn't exactly- Huh? What's that over there?"

Arun turned on his heel to find a four-legged beast roaming outside of the barn where they kept the Shepherds animals. The horse looked up at Arun with a surprisingly chilly look in it's eyes. "Isn't that Sully's horse?" he asked. His shoulders shook. "Almost looks like he's glaring at us? What's he doing outside his-"

"Shitshitshitshit!" Vaike yelled, throwing the book onto the ground before he sprinted off into the woods. "HE'S GONNA CHARGE!"

"Huh?"

Baldulf reared back on his back legs, whinnying before he charged right for Arun. Wanting nothing more than to live, Arun gave chase after Vaike, begging him not to leave him behind.

* * *

**Authors Note: **So, Tybalt's little reveal (yes, he is gay, Emmeryn figured it out before Tybalt himself did) is kind of a big deal for me. I've created non-straight character's before, but they've never really made it off the drawing board. So I'm pretty happy that I finally got _someone_ off the drawing board for a change.

I really can't say when the next chapter's coming out, especially when Fates is released. I pre-ordered the special edition, too. But I do plan on going back and editing old chapters. I've said plenty of times that I want to write a similar story for Fates, but I don't know if I'll be writing simultaneously as Embers or wait for Embers completion.

And as a final note. I think the music in this story has gotten to the point where I'll probably make a play list of what I had in mind. When the story's completed anyway.


	36. Chapter Thirty-Six

**Chapter Thirty-Six  
In the Closet**

It was still fairly early in the morning when Anali got out of bed. She woke up to find that Chrom had wrapped an arm around her in his sleep. The sheer amount of comfort Anali felt almost made her want to stay, to get him to stay in bed with her well into the afternoon. But Anali had asked Sumia of her time last night, as tempting as it was, she couldn't stay in bed all day.

In the lobby, Sumia and Noire were waiting. Noire tried to make herself as small as possible; she most certainly did not look comfortable spending the morning with her friends mothers. Originally, it was just going to be Anali and Sumia, Noire was standing by at the time and asked if she could come along.

The previous night Anali approached Sumia, asking for her help, Anali wanted to make dinner for Chrom, but given her track record in the kitchen she knew she needed help. And Sumia was one of the best cooks in the army. Sumia, the angel she was, was more than happy to help. "But one of the first things we need to do is do some shopping," she said while clapping her hands together. "We'll discuss what we'll prepare when we've seen what our options are."

Noire, however, was more interested in preparing confections. Noire never really had the opportunity to bake before in the future she came from.

For Sumia and Anali, their first stop of the morning was the butcher, as it went without say that meat was going to be involved. "I really wish the both of you would indulge in more poultry," Sumia said through a heavy sigh. "Too much red meat isn't good for anyone."

Anali's response was to purse her lips to the side and shrug. "Fear not, though," said Sumia, "I have an idea!"

Sumia's idea involved a couple pounds of beef and thin strips of pork despite her earlier criticisms. They stopped by a vegetable stand and purchased a half pound of mushrooms for a sauce and enough peas to make into soup. The hard choice, however, was between potatoes and carrots for a side dish. "I think it could work either way," Sumia mused.

"You said you wanted to make some sort of sauce?" Anali questioned. She took one of the carrots in hand. "Personally I think any sort of sauce works better with potatoes than carrots."

The Pegasus Knight paused for a moment to think. Content, her brow rose as she nodded. "That's a good call," she said. "We can use the potatoes for the main course. Now for dessert I was thinking a rhubarb pie, that's good for-"

"Chrom _really_ doesn't like rhubarb," Anali cut her off. "And frankly, neither do I…"

Sumia's brow furrowed in annoyance. "Okay, anything remotely healthy is off the table then."

"So… we're going to the bakery then?"

"If we must."

The three returned to the inn late that morning. Noire had clearly gotten a little overly excited in her purchases. She had more than enough of everything she could possibly need for her little venture in baking. She struggled to keep everything in her arms from falling over. "Here, Noire," Anali said taking a box of eggs from her. "Let me take this."

"O-Oh," Noire looked at Anali with wonder in her eyes, "thank you…"

They traveled down a few blocks, the whole way Anali felt Noire's gaze locked on her. Anali felt her cheeks heat up; she silently willed Noire to look away. But she couldn't take it much longer. "Can I ask what you're looking for, Noire?" she asked at length.

Noire's own face started to turn red, her blush was noticeable on her porcelain cheeks. "I'm sorry!" she said quickly. "It's just that… you're so wonderful and amazing! I wish _you_ were my mother."

Anali pulled to a stop. "Noire!" she gasped. "Tharja's a fine young woman, and I'm sure she's… uh…" Who was she kidding, Tharja was not the nurturing type… in the traditional sense. And certainly not on her own. "_Will be_ a fine mother."

The meek archer cast her eyes away from Anali. "I don't know," she murmured. "She hardly seems like the paragon of motherhood."

"Nonsense," Anali said. "I'm sure she'll be a perfectly good candidate after she's had some experience."

"Yeah, maybe…" Noire didn't sound convinced. "But I still think you'd be _leagues_ better! And… I was wondering… Do you mind if I call you mom?"

Anali nearly dropped everything in her arms. Needless to say, she had her grievances. Tharja was probably going to have a problem with it. Donnel would certainly have a problem with it, on several different levels (potentially bothering Anali, hurting her mother, offending everyone involved). Even Lucina would probably have a problem with it. The only thing that kept her from being attached to her parents hips was probably Lucina's age. Otherwise, neither Anali nor Chrom would have a moment to themselves.

Slowly, Noire's expression dropped. And Anali felt like she was being punched in the gut when she saw the pitiful look on Noire's face. She was certain Noire was going to start crying at any second. But instead she asked, "You're going to say no, aren't you?"

"I just…" How could Anali go about this without upsetting her? "Think it would be strange. People might get the wrong idea."

A tiny, pitiful sniffle came from Noire. She had made her eyes as big as they could get, and with them came another punch in Anali's gut. "For pity's sake," Anali moaned, "don't look at me with those woebegone eyes! I can't in good conscious let you call me mom, but if you want to hang around me when there's free time, that's fine. Provided I'm not busy."

Suddenly, Noire perked up as though nothing happened. "Really?!" she beamed. "Golly, thanks _so_ much! I'll definitely start doing that!"

There was something of a skip in Noire's step as she caught up with Sumia. Anali, on the other hand, was left just dumbfounded. It felt like she _just_ came to an understanding with Tharja and now she needed to do the same with the daughter.

Lucina's search brought her to the stable where the mounts were kept. She was crouched down, and ready to start crying. Damn it, she just bought a new chain so she _wouldn't_ lose it! "Something wrong, Lucina?"

She looked up to find Gerome, dressed a bit more casually but still with his mask on. Of course he would be here, he didn't expect anyone to take care of Minerva. That is to say, _his_ Minerva. "Oh, uh," Lucina uttered. "Good morning, Gerome…"

"What's the matter?" He asked, not beating around the bush.

Lucina pursed her lips to the side for a moment. "I've lost my pendant," she confessed.

"What manner of pendant?"

"A locket. It has a portrait of myself, my father, mother, a-a-and…"

Instantaneously, Gerome crouched down in front of her. He knew what she was going to say, and while he didn't know the full story, even he knew how much it affected Lucina and Owain. Lucina in particular; how much it _still _affected her. "Okay," he said with a nod. "Where was the last place you saw it?"

Lucina gripped her chin in thought. "I…" she said slowly; her brow rose. "Oh! I took it off before we went into the spring. I always do before bathing, I don't want to ruin the portrait."

"And I suppose you've already searched there?"

"Many times."

"Then we should retrace your steps and see if we can find it. Perhaps it fell without you realizing it."

"'We?'" repeated Lucina. "You'll help me look?"

"It's important to you, isn't it?" Gerome countered.

"Yes… very much so. I simply…" For a lone wolf, it seemed like Gerome was often coming to her aid. Lucina probably would have died in their own era had Gerome and Minerva not swooped in to grab her before Grima could attack. Then he lent her his mask so she could hide her brand from Chrom and Anali. Now this. "Thank you, Gerome."

"Thank me when we find it."

* * *

Elaine stretched her arms as she exited her room. She never really knew what she wanted to do whenever they took a day of respite. Back home at the garrison she had a schedule she could work with. Well, at the very least she could try to spend the day with Julie.

_THUD! THUD!_

In front of one of the rooms Olivia came out dragging an empty barrel with her. The barrel ended up slipping out of her grasp and the lid popped off as soon as it hit the floor. Elaine half-jogged to the dancer's side and helped her push the barrel back upwards. She grabbed the lid and held it in front of her to Olivia. "Oh, thank you," she said with a smile. "It's actually not difficult for me to move, but if I hit a little snag…"

"Working on your preservatives?" Elaine asked, rubbing the back of her neck as she eyed the barrel.

"Nope! I'm just trying to see Inigo dance!"

Elaine's face dropped. "With a _barrel_?"

"It feels like everyone's seen him dance but me!" Olivia held the lid close to her. "And _I'm_ his mother!"

"Oh, yes! He's quite lovely, I'm honestly pretty surprised given the environment he grew up in. Why the barrel, though?"

"Whenever I try to see him dance he'll make up an excuse and leave," explained Olivia. "If he can't see me, he can't leave!"

"Uh…" uttered Elaine. Surely there had to be an easier way to see him dance. It wasn't just in her head, right? "Okay…"

Smiling to herself Olivia continued to pull the barrel down the hall. A number of thuds echoed as the dancer traveled down stairs. Elaine wondered idly if Olivia asked Lon'qu if he wanted in on this plan. It wasn't that hard to see him turn down the idea, for one reason or another.

Suddenly, Elaine felt a couple of hands under her arms, the hands lifted her a couple of inches off the floor, so that she stood on the balls of her feet. "Target…" said the distinct voice of Tybalt.

In a flash, Stahl grabbed Elaine by the knees and lifted. As Elaine was lifted off the floor, Stahl's grip changed so that he held onto her ankles. "Captured," he finished.

Immediately the two men started to carry her down the hall. Elaine tried to kick away Stahl, and struggle out of Tybalt's grip, not caring if they dropped her, to no avail. She argued with them as they carried her down a couple flights of stairs, why were they doing this, and where they got off abducting young women like this. It did occur to her to start screaming, but she felt that would have been going a little overboard. She knew Stahl and Tybalt were good men, they weren't planning anything malicious.

That did not mean she wasn't going to be furious with them when this was over, though.

They carried her into the backroom where Arun was holding the door open, he repeated over and over 'This is a bad idea,' in a complete deadpan. At the door Stahl dropped Elaine's legs while Tybalt lead the rest of her in. Once inside Elaine over balanced when Tybalt released her and fell over. The light disappeared as Arun closed the door behind her. "Hey!" Elaine shouted as soon as she heard the click of the lock. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I think they're trying to get us to talk."

Elaine needed a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the light. But it did not take her long before she saw Henry sitting idly in the corner. "You're kidding me," Elaine muttered under her breath. "How'd they get _you_ here?"

"Stahl asked me to wait here," said Henry, "so I did."

"Wait, really?"

"It's like they want us to talk things out… for Julie's sake."

"What's there to talk about? We had a daughter in some future past but I don't feel anything for you."

"Aw," Henry sighed only _slightly_ dejected. "You can't even learn to love me?"

Standing up, Elaine crossed her arms over her chest. "Can you honestly say you like this arrangement?" she challenged. Elaine could feel something beginning to boil up inside her. "You hardly know me."

"I'm pretty open to the idea," admitted Henry. "What's the worse that could go wrong?"

"Seriously?"

He shrugged a shoulder. "I'm not _opposed_ to the idea of having children. Teaching them a thing or two; like the sound a man makes when he's stabbed in the back."

And there it was.

How could Elaine love someone who cared so little for human life? How could they have produced a daughter who, for the most part, had a sound moral compass? _From this man?_ It was too outlandish to believe. "Well, not all of us like having their choice taken away!" Elaine snapped. "Who I marry should be _my_ choice, and it's suddenly taken away from me!"

Elaine turned on her heel before Henry could say anything and started pounding her fist on the door. She didn't want to talk anymore. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and Henry. She didn't want to confirm or deny that Julie would exist in this era, she just wanted a damn _choice_ in the matter.

"Why am _I_ being unreasonable for wanting a choice?"

"I don't think it's that you're being unreasonable, it's that you're trying to avoid the matter all together," said Kellam.

In perfect unison, Elaine whipped around and screamed at the sight of Kellam, while Henry simply rocketed off his seat.

How long was he here?

Damn Julie's parent and their issues. Severa wanted to have a Daddy-Daughter day, but Stahl was busy trying to help Elaine and Henry through their marital issues. Granted they weren't married, but…

And instead Severa found herself wandering the small village with Cordelia. Her mother prattled on at least three times about how they probably looked more like sisters than mother and daughter. They tried on various dresses from the local shop, all the while Severa kept her brow slightly furrowed, not full-on scowling, but she wasn't smiling either.

That is, until their shopping trip was cut rather short after they had lunch. Between the two of them, they spent their money on dresses, a pair of shoes, a cute necklace, a few books, and lunch. And between the two of them that left them with very little money from their personal savings. Which left them waiting by the window for the food they ordered.

Severa never was exactly good with money.

"Man," Severa grumbled, "I can practically hear Captain Phila scolding me from beyond the grave."

Cordelia could not help but laugh at this. The scolding _she_ had for being too frivolous with money… "Yes, I imagine…" she paused, "Wait, what? What about Captain Phila? You know of her?"

"Yeah, but I don't really just know _of_ her," Severa said, "she took care of Cynthia and I after you, Lady Sumia, and Sir Frederick died. She died about… maybe two, three years before we came to this world."

All her mother could do was blink, once… twice… thrice… and even more times after that.

Phila lived much longer in Severa's era? The princess did say that Lady Emmeryn was supposed to die the night the palace was attacked. Perhaps it wasn't too far fetched to think Captain Phila survived longer. "I… I don't know what to make of this," Cordelia admitted at length. "It sound's crazy…"

"Well, it sounds crazy to me that she died in this world two years ago!" snapped Severa.

Pursing her lips, Cordelia glanced out the window. She could see Priam looking nervously at a vendor's stand and glancing over his shoulder every few minutes. Ricken was tagging along with Maribelle as she bought new healing staves. And Gaius was sharing a box of cookies between himself and his son as they walked pass them. Cordelia rapped her knuckle against the window to get their attention. But, as soon as Owain saw her a clear look of panic spread upon his face. He grabbed his father by the collar and turned around much to the man's confustion.

"What was that?" Cordelia thought out loud.

Groaning, Sever hid her face behind her hands. "He's _still_ worrying about that?" she asked herself. "Gods, seriously! I got over it a long time ago!"

"Huh?"

"It's nothing," Severa insisted. "At least nothing _you _need to worry about, because it's none of your business."

"You're face is red," Cordelia noted pointedly.

Her face was red because Owain was still making a big deal about it. Darn fool could be too kind for his own good sometimes. Severa had moved on, so why couldn't he?

Okay, yes, Severa must have been visibly upset when he rejected her, but she was ready to move on with her life after a goodnight's sleep, and two years later she was over it. And it wasn't as though Owain was cruel or malicious about it, he even dropped the act to let her down as gently as possible. It was just another hiccup in her life, something that was extremely insignificant in the long run.

Besides, Severa would gouge her eyes out with a knife before she spent more than a few days moping over a guy. She was not going to be Cordelia in that aspect. _Ever._

"Because I'm a redhead," she said at length, "and whose fault is that?"

"Your grandfather's, actually," Cordelia said while beaming. "He's where I got it from."

Well, that made Severa feel a little bit better about having her mother's hair color. If she couldn't have Stahl's, she may as well take comfort in the fact she had her grandfather's. "When this is all over, I want to meet grandpa," grumbled Severa. "Grandma, too."

The search for Lucina's locket did not take as long as she feared as soon as Gerome got onto his hands and knees. He found the pendent in the inn's hallway; it was a miracle in and of itself that no one took it. So when Gerome found her agaiin, holding the pendant by the chain Lucina couldn't stop herself from throwing her arms around him.

She realized quickly that she overstepped her boundaries. Her fingers wouldn't stop twitching even after she stepped away way from him. "Sorry," she said quickly. "I wasn't really thinking."

"There's a lot that could have happened to it," Gerome said, avoiding Lucina's eye contact. "And it's precious to you."

Nodding, Lucina took the pendant into her hands. She opened it revealing a family portrait; their first and last. Lucina couldn't help but smile, realizing for the umpteenth time how much her mother stood out amongst her blue-haired husband and children. Which was to say nothing of her skin color; Anali still had the brownest skin in the family. "I can't thank you enough," Lucina said as she clasped the chain around her neck. "For this, for the mask… for rescuing me. I never really thanked you for that."

"If I recall correctly, you screamed at me and nearly beat my mask off," Gerome said pointedly.

A blush quickly formed on Lucina's face. Of course Lucina was not going to survive Grima's attack that night, certainly not singled-handedly. And she did not want to admit that at the time and may have had a very undignified reaction to an unwanted rescue. "And for that I can't apologize enough," she said. "You could have died that night as well, and I repaid your kindness with screams and-"

Immediately, Gerome held a hand up, silencing her. "I admit, I would have reacted differently if it were me," he said. "But back there you carried the most weight out of all of us. If Grima was to be defeated, the people were expecting it to be at your hand."

Lucina's brow perked up. "'_Carried_?' Past tense?" she asked. She covered her mouth with her hand as she giggled. "It appears you're the only other one here who actually understands our titles mean very little here."

Gerome shrugged awkwardly. "In theory, I should be Duke of Rosanne," he said. "But if there's no dukedom, what's the purpose of my title?"

"Yes, I've thought about it a lot since we saw each other last… I had a lot of time to think. If I didn't have the Falchion I doubt what's left of Ylisse would have called me 'princess.' Even now, what belongs to Lucina Ylisse belongs to a baby back in Ylisstol."

It was true, whatever a girl named Lucina would be getting through her birthright was a baby who was nearly twelve weeks old. No matter what her mother and father may say, it would be down right foolish to make her heir. She was hardly much younger than Chrom, it defeated the whole idea of having an heir. At worse, Lucina may serve as regent should the unthinkable happen to her parents and aunt.

Besides, Lucina knew next to nothing about politics, nor was she as savvy as Anali, so she couldn't adjust quickly. Even she could admit that she didn't have much skill outside of fighting. It was the downside to being raised in an apocalyptic landscape and constantly moving across the country in order to stay alive. It did beg the question of 'now what?' when the calamity was averted, but Lucina chose not to think about it too much. She felt a plethora of different things when she thought about it, and she didn't really like the feelings that came with it.

"If…" Gerome's voice trailed off. He didn't have much faith in this crusade, and the other's knew it. But he wasn't going to cut Lucina down with his own beliefs, she had enough on her plate as it was. Titles or no, she was just as involved in this war as her parents were. "If that's what you believe."

* * *

Elaine's leg jiggled as she sat in the corner with her arms crossed over her chest. After the initial shock of Kellam's presence, he started playing devil's advocate between Elaine and Henry to help them through their issues.

She didn't _have_ to think of it as her choice being taken. They still had a choice in when they married, after all Julie wasn't giving them a time limit. And clearly, Elaine saw _something_ in Henry in the future past, if things between them worked out once, they can work out again.

But it did nothing to ease Elaine's concerns. She wasn't going to flat out tell Julie she wouldn't exist in this era, but damn it, Elaine wanted a choice in the matter. Why was that so unreasonable? "You can't just tell someone to fall in love with a person," Elaine said, gripping her apron. "It doesn't work like that."

"But we can make it work," said Henry. "I'm willing to try."

"Well, excuse me for needing more time!"

Well, time was something Henry could understand. Even he knew marriage was something that took work. But, Henry still wanted to try, and he surprised himself with that conviction. If his own parents could produce a child, surely Henry could do the same thing. And he would raise a child better than they ever could.

"So, you don't want me as your husband?" he asked at length.

"No!"

"Not even as your friend?" asked Kellam.

Elaine bit her lower lip. The fact of the matter was Henry disturbed her. He was like the antithesis of what Elaine was; a man with a bloodlust and little regard for human life. And whether Henry wanted to admit it or not, he had _issues_. Issues Elaine wasn't sure if she could provide support for. Whether it be a friend, lover, or husband. Elaine was not equiped enough to support a person with Henry's issues.

"I don't know," she murmured.

Why was Elaine the bad guy for having some sort of issue with this? Wasn't Elaine feeling pretty normal for this situation? Her freedom to choose was taken from her, so she started feeling a little resentful. Why was that so wrong? Were her own feelings being monopolized now?

"I don't know!" she yelled. Elaine shot up from her seat and marched straight to the door. She beat her fist against the door with all the strength she could muster. "Let me out! Let me out or so help me I will raise all kinds of hell!"

She screamed through her teeth, proving her point. No more talking, Elaine was done right now. She didn't like this, she didn't like feeling like she was a terrible person for having feelings that where perfectly natural. "Alright, alright, calm down!" Stahl said, opening the door.

Elaine nearly fell over when the door opened. She shoved Stahl to the side, and hurried back into her room.

He hadn't seen her all day, when he woke up she was already gone. So Chrom waffled about throughout the day with no sight of his wife. Until that evening when Noire just handed him a note and ran off. It was… odd to say the least.

The note was written in Anali's distinct handwriting (really it was more like chicken scratch) asking him to meet her in their room that evening. He wasn't sure if he should be worried or not.

"Anali?" he asked upon opening the door. "Anali?"

In the back corner of the room was a table draped in a white cloth with a lit candle stick lighting the area. A couple of bowls were laid out on the table beside water glasses. Anali stood in front of the table, her coat rested on the bed, and her hair hanging loose. "What's all this?" Chrom asked, gesturing to the table.

"Well," Anali started fiddling with her fingers. "You've been doing a lot for me lately… I know I've had a few episodes-"

"To be fair," Chrom interrupted, "you haven't dished out anything I haven't."

"You've woken me up because of a nightmare?"

"No, but I dragged you into politics by virtue of marrying me."

"I just…" A blush formed on her cheeks. "Thought I'd do something for you for a change. So I asked for Sumia's help, and we've been setting this up all day."

"Anali, you didn't-"

"I _wanted_ to," she said. "Am I not allowed to pamper my husband?"

"Says the woman who tries to push her husband away when someone sees them being affectionate."

The blush on Anali's face deepened. "That's different!"

"I'm just kidding," Chrom said through a chuckle. "C'mere."

She kept her eyes on her feet for a moment, but she was in Chrom's arms without a second thought. Anali buried her face in his chest for a moment, taking in his comforting scent and the security of his arms. "I love you," she said, looking up at him.

"And here I thought you'd tell me something I didn't know," Chrom said before he placed a kiss on her temple. "But, I love you, too. Always have, always will."

The next morning Anali woke up to the sounds of a couple voices going back and forth with each other. She rolled over on her side to see Chrom with one of the sheets around his waist and Frederick standing outside the door. Instinctively Anali pulled the blankets up to her chest. After dinner, one thing lead to another and they finally had that night they were talking about for days now.

Anali rolled onto her back as the conversation finished and Chrom closed the door. He walked back up to the bed and sat down beside Anali. "Good morning," he said before kissing her.

"What was that?" Anali asked, her voice slightly slurred.

"Frederick said we got a message from the Khans."

Anali sat up. "An attack?"

"Possibly," he said while gently pushing Anali back down. "But it wasn't directed at our men. The Khans got a message while we were away. It was from the princess of Chon'sin, she wishes to ally herself with us."

* * *

**Authors Note: **One last pure filler chapter for the foreseeable future. This chapter's mostly filled with details that I wanted to add last chapter but it would have made it push thirty pages. BUT at the very least Elaine and Henry at least started talking, and Elaine got some feelings off her chest. Things can only go up… maybe.

And if anyone's interested, I started writing a fanfic for _Fates_, titled _**Circles in the Stream**_. Check if out if you're interested.


	37. Chapter Thirty-Seven

**Chapter Thirty-Seven  
The Voice**

Why did he say yes, why did he say yes, why did he say yes?

Surely there were important things Chrom had to be doing in the last few hours before they set sail to Valm Harbor. And yet, here he was, giving a second opinion to Priam as he searched for an engagement ring. "You know, I scolded Tharja and Nowi for this exact same thing," Chrom said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I know, that's why I asked for your opinion," Priam said as he held a ruby ring up to his eye level. "And I thought having someone who did this before would help."

"I've told you before," Chrom said looking over the display of rings. "We didn't really have an engagement ring. Even if we did I already would have had it prepared for me."

"How so?" Priam inquired.

"The men in House Ylisse are usually given a signet ring with the crest on the surface," Chrom explained. "_Usually_ it's given to the woman they intend to marry-"

"Like this?"

Priam held out gold signet ring that, sure enough, had the Mark of Naga etched onto the surface. The ring was dirtied with age, and the brand was beginning to wear thin. Chrom dared to think, for all of three seconds, that this could have been the very same ring he sold as a boy. The odds were against him, and the ring simply looked too beat up and worn for something that should have been twenty years old.

How old was Chrom when he sold his? Nine? Ten? Maybe eleven? Emmeryn had been insisting he wear it more, but Chrom just remembered it came off easily, he was sure if he didn't sell it, the damn thing would have gotten lost on his own.

The old ring in his hand sold for five suns and two moons; while Chrom couldn't remember how much his sold for, he did remember it was an impressive sum. It had to have been more than enough to help the performers he sold it for get by for a while. The scolding Emmeryn gave him when she found out was by far her most confused. She was very, very proud of him for doing something for the less fortunate, but couldn't he have stolen something from the castle instead?

Chrom was pretty sure she was mostly upset with the fact that he gave away something that should have been his future brides. But it _did_ turn out okay in the end. By the time he and Anali had a wedding date there wasn't much of a point to an engagement ring.

He wasn't sure why he ended buying it, perhaps it was out of respect for the relative who lost it. Perhaps it was just an impulse the memory brought up. It wasn't as though Chrom planed on wearing it, in the end it would just collect dust until they returned to the palace. Perhaps someone could restore it when the conflicts were over.

Thankfully, Chrom was not the only one who made out with a purchase. Priam found a ring, it was simple silvery ring with three white stones. Now all he needed was the right moment to propose.

* * *

The harbor village was easily the most fortified in Valm, with a well-time warning. And with a warning from Chon'sin's princess, very few would ignore it. The civilians were not about to ignore a warning from her, especially when she had a near-tribal warrior behind her. Even if he was visibly shaking.

Say'ri was a tall woman with sharp features, her black hair was long, but still neatly cut. She may have been in hiding, but she wore the garb of her people proudly. She was a sword master through and through.

Her companion was even taller than she was. Blue armor covered his limbs and torso, but dark brown fur littered his skin, and hid his more private areas. The tawny ears that sprouted from his wild mane of dark brown hair was the tell all sign that Say'ri's companion was a taguel. The only thing that was really eye-catching about his appearance was a tuff of auburn hair.

Say'ri had thought the taugel had been extinct, but when this rabbit-wearer came to her rescue with three of his companions, she found herself delightfully surprised. However the taguel clearly didn't think himself as such.

Hiding out in the shadows of an alleyway, Say'ri could hear the heavy footfalls of the Valemese army. She sent out a message for help days ago, and it would appear they would come too late. Say'ri could not blame them, she had no idea where they had gone, so her plea may have never gotten to them. It was a long shot to begin with.

"Brave taguel," Say'ri said, turning to her companion. He had introduced himself as Yarne. "You have done more than enough. But if you stay and fight, there is no guarantee we will survive the upcoming battle." That was enough to make Yarne visibly flinch. "Therefore, I will not ask you to stay and fight. Please, go back to your friends, keep the Voice safe."

Yarne was taken aback by this. "Y-Your sure?" he asked, his voice small and meek.

"Aye," Say'ri nodded, "there is no reason for the taguel to perish this day. Go before they find us."

Yarne immediately bolted down the alleyway. He really had no idea where he was going, or whether or not this would lead him out of the harbor. Sliding to a stop on the main road Yarne could hear a battle cry from Say'ri mixed with dying breaths of the Valmese soldiers. He clenched his fist together so tight the knuckles turned white, he entire being shook and his face was contorted.

Turning sharply, Yarne got onto all fours. Hair sprouted from every pore on his body as it grew in size. Pushing off his hind legs Yarne sprinted back down the alley, to find Say'ri engaged with Valmese soldiers. He took her by surprised by forcing her onto his back, like Yarne was a regular horse.

"Hold on!" he shouted, whipping himself around, he kicked his back legs, throwing the soldier's a few meters back.

Say'ri griped onto Yarne's fur as he tore off running, barreling through the army. Some where literally thrown across the road, other's just dived out of Yarne's way.

The two created a very efficient strategy as they mowed down the Valmese army. Swords and bunny feet flew in the air with each attack at the enemy forces. Yarne feared his mother and dead taguel brethren curing him for letting a human ride on his back. He wasn't a tamed horse after all, he was a part of a proud race.

He was the _last_ of a proud race.

Neither were quite sure how many soldiers they struck down, but to Yarne, it felt very sizable. Turning a corner, Yarne came to an abrupt halt, almost throwing Say'ri off his back. A number of ships were docked at the harbor. Mixed among them were flags of Regna Ferox, Ylisse, and the Pirate Lord Septimus, of all things.

The army had just taken care of every Valmese soldier Say'ri and Yarne had been unable too. The army carried it's fair share of odd characters, Pegasus Knights, Wyvern Riders, a Griffin Flyer. But what had Say'ri's attention was the Manakete who returned to her bipedal form, and another taguel.

Without much of a warning, Yarne let out a slight 'Eep!' and returned to his own bipedal form. With the change, came Say'ri sitting on Yarn's shoulders. The army's taguel, a female much older than Yarne, who seemed to be on the crux of adulthood himself, had seen them. Yarne was quick to lower himself to allow Say'ri off his shoulders.

Sheathing her sword, Say'ri stepped forward. "I preseume you are the Ylissean League?" she asked, projecting her voice. "If so, you have my gratitude."

"I wouldn't say we're a 'league,'" Chrom said, approaching the woman. "I just apologize that it took us so long to arrive."

Say'ri smiled slightly. "Exalt Chrom of Ylisse?" she asked. She dipped herself down briefly then bobbed herself back up. "The tales of your strength were no exaggeration. I am called Say'ri Xu, I fight with the Resistance."

"'The Resistance?'" asked a white haired, red-eyed woman. Say'ri took an educated guess that this was Queen Anali. "So your people have banded together in rebellion?"

"Aye, of sorts," sighed Say'ri. "Several groups formed to seek liberty for the states of Valm."

"We've noticed," Chrom said, gesturing to the pirate ships. "Even the terror of your seas wish to join forces."

"I am admittedly curious about that. United, our forces could pose a veritable threat to Walhart. However, I struggle to bring the Resistance together."

"And why's that?" Flavia asked, standing beside Anali with her arms crossed over her chest.

All the old weaknesses of man," Say'ri explained. "The dynasty all would have freedom, but on their own terms. Some refused to take up arms unless their territory is threatened. Others thrive under the Conqueror's heel and will not join unless there is profit in it. Liberty is a fine word, aye, but not always enough to rouse men from foolishness."

"I take it you're looking for a more convincing argument, then?" Flavia inquired.

"Just so, although my efforts thus far have met with meager success. I fear many distrust me because my brother fights for Walhart."

"Wait, what?" Anali questioned. "Why?"

"Would that I knew, my lady. Yen'fay was a good man once, but he is my brother no more." Say'ri tightened her hands into fists. "Do not doubt for one second that I would not cut him down should our blades cross. Same as any other imperial. Walhart is said to command countless men now. Perhaps more.

Anali bit at the bed of her thumb. She was liking their odds less and less. From the sounds of it, even with their own forces it would not be enough to counter Walhart's. Not evenly at least. This was quickly turning into a war where they needed to fight smarter rather than harder.

"But what are a million men against the Ylissean dogs of war?" Say'ri asked with a hearty laugh. "You stopped a thousand of their ships, did you not?"

The tactician's face started to heat up at Say'ri's words. Why did she get the feeling that one plan was going to be her mark on history? "Your daring strategy has awoken and inspired people across all of Valm," Say'ri continued, which did nothing for Anali's blush. "And do not think I have not caught wind of your other acts of valor across Valm. I know we can yet unite the Resistance and break Walhart's grip."

Anali kept one hand balled up in front of her mouth, the other arm was wrapped around her husbands. Wasn't that what they were here for in the first place? This was why the left their baby back in Ylisse days ago. But now they had a tyrannical emperor to worry about and the future which the elder Lucina and her friends returned from. "Chrom…" murmured Anali.

"I admire your courage," Chrom said at length. "Perhaps your mission is the best way to achieve mine. We have our own causes, a haildom to protect, which goes hand in hand with your cause. But we also have a future to win. So, I agree, joining forces is the best way to free Valm from Wallhart's iron grip. And if I'm wrong, it's my life on the line. As it should be."

Suddenly cold as ice, Anali's hand reached down from Chrom's and she squeezed it. She wanted to scream at him for even saying such a thing. Why did he have to say that?

Say'ri sighed in relief, with a hand placed over her chest. "And like that, a weight is off my chest," she said. Staring at the cobblestone street, Say'ri pursed her lips together. "You say you have a future to win?"

"Uh…" Chrom stuttered. He looked at Anali, silently pleading for her assistance. His wife simply shrugged. She did not know how to explain this anymore than she did. "Yes…?"

"I believe I came across a few friends who have been searching for you," said Say'ri. She gestured to Yarne who was speaking to Panne and Gregor. "Young Yarne is one such. And there is someone you ought to meet."

* * *

"It's just chance!" Aversa shouted to herself. "Random chance!"

She told herself she wouldn't allow the Heirophant's words to get to her. Yet, here she was, searching through the Grimleal's archives for this Anju Mahto. Such a person did exist, and she had the exact same birthday Aversa did. Anju was born in a small, rustic village that was wiped out when Aversa should have been ten. The girl's mother and father were listed as dead, but Anju was not, implying she was still alive.

Throwing the notes across the room Aversa searched the library, looking for anything on a hidden spring that was supposed to reveal a person's true self. Or, at least that's what the rumors said.

Aversa's childhood memories were hazy, but she often said her life stated the day Validar saved her. Like a heavenly being sent by the gods themselves. He really was everything she knew of love, even if he held no love for her. According to Validar, she was always Aversa.

But something was nagging at the back of her head. This Anju Mahto was nothing to her, yet she could not get that birthdates' out of her head. Statistically it was provable for Aversa to share her birthday with someone; not just someone thousands of others. But the lack of a death date for Anju bothered her.

Asking Validar directly was out of the question. And odds were Arun would have known less than Aversa did. Besides, he was a few years younger than Aversa, and most likely Validar's least favorite child. Arun would not know any secrets about Aversa.

At long last, she found the right book that mapped out the Wellspring of Truth. There, she would have little trouble finding the answers. If she left now on her pegasus, she would be able to make good time before she was missed.

Damn it! She was playing right into the Heirophant's hands wasn't she?

* * *

The sun was beginning to set by the time they made their way to a magnificent tree as tall as the mountains themselves. Most of the Shepherds hung back to set up camp while Say'ri lead the royals up it's great roots.

"Since ancient times, many of our people have worshiped Naga," she explained. "More precisely, we worshiped the divine dragon's oracle, Lady Tiki. Though most know her as 'the Voice.' With the growing threat of Walhart, I have had the Voice guarded at all hours while she sleeps." She pointed up at the tree's branches. "There is a shrine built in the divine Mila Tree's branches. There she sleeps."

With her hand shielding her eyes, Lissa tilted her head back. She let out a low whistle. "Don't think I've ever felt so small," she murmured.

"Don't think I've ever felt so out of place," Anali added. She felt like she shouldn't be here. Like lightning would come down at any second to smite her for daring to set foot in such a place.

"I know," Basilio added, mimicking Lissa. "You can't even see the top of it!"

"Is there really a shrine up there?" Anali asked. She wanted to add that it didn't seem pratical. But she thought better of it and held her tounge.

"Aye, my lady," said Say'ri. "A great staircase inside the trunk leads to the top. We should be able to climb up safely."

The screech of the violin caused the shorter girl with light green hair and long pointed ears to rub her temples. How could Lady Tiki sleep through all that? "You think Say'ri and Yarne are doin' okay?" the priest playing the violin asked. "They've been gone for a while, you know…"

Nah lowered her hand from her face and bit her lower lip. Nah and Kjelle were adamant about staying with Lady Tiki to keep her safe should the worst come to past. And Brady, the only healer amongst them, was needed with them should the Valmese forces attack. It left Yarne the only one available to accompany Say'ri.

Nah fiddled with her dragonstone out of a nervous habit. "Of course they are," Kjelle said with conviction. "Lady Say'ri isn't about to let Walhart take over and Yarne know how to keep himself alive."

"I suppose you're right," Brady said removing the bow from his violin.

"Have I lead you astray yet?" Kjelle said cheekily and Brady returned the smile.

Nah covered her eyes with one hand. She found Brady and Kjelle a few months back, and was nearly floored to learn that the two struck up a relationship since they last saw each other.

In unison their heads turned to the stairway where they heard someone complaining. Loudly.

Within seconds, a group of people arrived at the shrine. A blue haired man, a Plegian woman close at the man's side, a muscle-bound black man with an eye patch, a blonde woman ready for a fight, a younger blonde girl with her hair up in pigtails, Say'ri, and a very familiar girl with long blue hair. "Lucina!" Kjelle exclaimed happily.

"Kjelle?" Lucina gasped, breaking away from the group to meet with the girl in lilac armor. "Brady and Nah, too?"

"I can't say I'm surprised to find you here eventually," Nah said, lacing her fingers together. "Given the Exalted line's ties to the divine dragon."

"I had a feeling as soon as I saw Yarne speak with your taguel friend," Say'ri said, glacing over her shoulder to look at Chrom. "They explained that they were searching for their parents. And why they are here. A tale spun by a mad man, but I trust I am not being lied to. Case and point, I did hear of your little princess birth, yet a woman, resembling you, bearing your child's name travels with you. It does make one think."

Chrom laughed, forcefully while Anali pursed her lips to the side. Sure, when you put it like that the resemblance was obvious.

At the end of the shrine, from a canopy bed, a figure sat up, yawning as they rubbed their eye. "Ah, my lady," Say'ri said, approaching the young woman. "I'm relived to see you're safe."

"So you are Lady Tiki?" Lucina asked, slowly approaching the bed, but keeping a respectful distance. "She who speaks for the divine dragon?"

The Voice was a young woman, Manakete as evident of her pointed ears. She kept her light green hair up in a high ponytail, and wore a golden ornament in it. She had on a form-fitting red dress, with a matching pair of boots. Tiki was still clearly dreary as she looked straight at Lucina. "Mar-Mar?" she asked, rubbing her eye, her voice highpitched and airy. "What're you doing here, Marth?"

Lucina froze in place, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end. "M-My name is Lucina, milady," she said gently. She added quickly under her breath, "Though I did go by that name for a time…"

Slowly, Tiki shook her head and brought a hand to it. "Y-yes, I'm sorry. Of course… he's…" Shaking her head again, Tiki looked back up at Lucina, then to Chrom, then back. The haze in her eyes was gone. "You and your father are of the exalted bloodline, are you not?"

"Yes, milady," Chrom answered immediately, approaching the Voice.

"Do you yet possess the Fire Emblem?" asked Tiki. "It should have been passed down through your family…"

"Yes. I have it with me."

Anali's brow rose. This was news to her.

"That's a relief," Tiki said with a tired smile. "And the Gemstones? Only Argent was left with the Emblem."

"Gemstones?" echoed Chrom.

"Yes," Tiki said, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. She stood up, though Say'ri held her hands out in front of her, ready to catch the Voice should she fall. "There are five of them - Argent, Sable, Gules, Azura, and Vert. Each holds a portion of Naga's power. When mouted upon the Emblem, they allow one to perform the Awakening."

The very same ritual Exalt Orev preformed a thousand years ago. If there was one thing Anali remembered perfectly from her pre-wedding research, it was Orev's story. "With the Fire Emblem's power," Tiki continued, "Orev was able to defeat Grima."

A sharp pain struck Anali in her head. "But such power was too much for men, so the Gemstones were scattered." Tiki reached into a hidden pocket on her person and took out a small - marble. "I keep Azure with me."

"My kingdom safeguarded Vert for generations," Say'ri took over. "But the gem was recently stolen by Walhart's men."

"The remaining Gemstones, Sable and Gules, are no longer known to me. They may have been taken long ago, at the time of the Schism."

"Regna Ferox was founded during the Schism," Basilio pointed out. "As were most all nations in the realm, I believe."

"So, does that mean you have one of the Gemstones?" Lissa asked him.

"Ha!" Flavia chortled, crossing her arms over her chest. "As if anyone would entrust the oaf with such a thing."

"Actually, it's true," Basilio said smugly. "We did keep one: Gules. Did I never inform you?"

"You most certainly did not."

"Must've slipped my mind," Basilio said, fringing ignorance. "Regardless, yes. The West-Khans once safeguarded Gules. But it was lost long before my lifetime."

"Here," Tiki said, offering Azure to Chrom. "Take it with you. It I important you seek out the others and perform the Awakening. Our world must be defended from Grima at all cost."

Wordlessly, Chrom took the gem from Tiki, making a mental note to set in place when the returned to camp. Something was bothering him, and he didn't realize how much it bothered him until the words came out of Tiki's mouth. The implication of Lucina's words back when she described the future she came from never quite resonated with him until this moment. Grima had returned. And now, Tiki feared the fell dragon's return.

"I'm afraid there's something I don't quite understand," he said. "I thought Grima's power was sealed away by Exalt Orev."

"That is true," said Tiki, "but ever since there have been those who would change that. Grima's life force grows even now, and with it, the long shadows of despair."

The pain in Anali's head got worse, and there was ringing in her ears. "Do you know when he will return?" Chrom asked her. "And where?"

Tiki shook her head. "I cannot know these things. But I can feel his presence," she placed a hand over her chest. "It looms, closer and closer… This task is a heavy burden, but as he of exalted blood," she reached out and placed her hand on Chrom's shoulder. "It must fall to you, Chrom."

Chrom nodded slowly. It was probably better that way, he couldn't ask anyone else to bear the burdern. "I understand," he said. "Thank you, for everything."

Removing her hand from Chrom's shoulder, Tiki used it to shield her mouth in a yawn. "I'd… I'd like to join you in the fray," she said through a yawn. "But I fear… fear I haven't quite the strength yet."

"Is there anything we can do?" Anali asked. She walked up to Chrom and laced her arm around his.

Any dreariness on Tiki's face vanished as she stared at Anali. The Voice was stunned, her face paled, and she was almost afraid. "Y-you…" she forced out in a hushed tone.

"Milady?" Anali asked, her brow knitted together. The ringing in her ears persisted.

"F-forgive me," Tiki said quickly. Her face relaxed, but Anali could tell she was still on edge. "There is something you can do, if you're willing to spare the time. In a ruined shrine of Regna Ferox is Naga's Tear. That should be enough to hold me over."

"Truthfully," Say'ri said in a hushed tone, "I'd rather Lady Tiki come with us. It is easier to keep her safe that way."

"I can hear you, Say'ri," Tiki said breathily.

"I suppose we have little choice then," said Chrom. "We'll gather volunteers to stay with Lady Tiki while we're gone."

* * *

"So, Aversa will be absent for the foreseeable future?" asked the Hierophant.

"Yes, it would appear so, Master," said the guard. "She left abruptly, and did not say when she would be back."

"That will be all."

Without another word, the guard dipped his head for a moment, then turned on his heel an marched off. The Hierophant bit back a smile. Aversa was making better time then the Hierophant gave her credit for. Truthfully she could not wait for Aversa to return, she wanted to see what the fool would do next.

Instantly, the Hierophant whipped herself around to find, not her usual Risen, but the remains of a fop of a man. Not much changed for him in life or in death, he was still dressed as frilly and bright as ever. But, even in death, he had his merits.

The Risen extended one hand to the Hierophant, who took it instantly. She was greeted with the images of a collapsing shrine to the divine dragon. Then, she saw a cloaked figure hurry inside, deciding to use it as shelter for the night.

The figure made the Hierophant burst out laughing. "What is that dragon even _doing_?" she asked her guard Risen behind her. As always, he didn't answer. "She's aware this isn't going to change much, right? But, you know what, I'm curious. I want to see what their capable off. I'm sending someone to knock them around a bit. Scare them, kill them, doesn't matter. Now, who to send?"

The sorceress was there beside the Hierophant's Risen before she even turned around. Dead or not, the sorceress looked more ghastly compared to her living, present-self. She had become thinner, unkempt, her hair a mess. She certainly did not look as appealing as her present-self. "A dog in death and in life," the Heirophant said through a sigh. She gestured to the sorceress. "I don't care if you kill them or not, I just want to see what they're capable of now that they're grown. Entertain me for a few minutes.."

* * *

The three other children they found had varying degrees of reaction when the reunited with their parents. Brady, as it turned out, was going to be Maribelle and Ricken's son. Maribelle had to raise an eyebrow at the realization that she raised a bit of brute, in her own words, but was delighted that he was at leas cultured. Their conversation ended with the two of them holding each other, sobbing. When Chrom rolled his eyes at the sight, he was promptly elbowed in the side by Anali with a chastised, 'Be nice!' Then he was kicked in the shin by Lissa and got an earful from her.

Kjelle was positively beaming at the sight of Sully, blown away by how beautiful and vibrant she was, just like the Sully in her memories. Sully took Kjelle's appearance on a chin, please to know she had a child who could handle herself as well as Sully did. The pair then went seeking Kellam without realizing he was right behind Sully the entire time.

It was not difficult to place Nah's parents. Though when the two stood side by side, Nah and Nowi looked like they were sisters rather than mother and daughter. Of course one could say that about most of the children, but the Manakete's looked like they were about the same physical age. With a bit of encouraging from Nowi that it was all right, Nah ran into her arms sobbing while Libra held them both.

Libra, Nowi, and Nah decided to stay at the Mila Tree with Tiki.

"On the one hand this shouldn't take us nearly as long as it did to get to and from the Wyvern Valley," Anali said, looking over her map. "And we have Septimus' forces, so, if we leave them under Flavia's order…"

"We'll be there and back before anyone misses us," Chrom finished.

The two sat in their cot, in their tent. Anali sat on Chrom's lap, her back to his chest while he rubbed her shoulders. The headache and ringing in her ears were gone almost as soon as she was out of the shrine, but she couldn't find it in her to pass up one of Chrom's shoulder rubs. "So… you're actually carrying the Fire Emblem with us?" Anali asked lowering her map. "Like, if you wanted you could get it right now?"

"Yes," Chrom said, nodding behind her. "I don't doubt Emm would find away to haunt me if I didn't keep it safe with me. I have it with our convoy, figured it was better than actually carrying it with me and painting a target on my back."

"Yeah…" Anali murmured. Again, she wanted to scream at him for talking like that.

Silent fell upon them for the next few minutes. "I'm not going to pretend I know what's going to happen from here on out," Chrom said, wrapping his arms around Anali, pulling her close into his chest. "Someone we know may die, or it could very well be one of us."

_Don't… Please don't…_

"I just…" Chrom tightened his grip on her. "I know I'll die happily if you're the last thing I see."

_Don't say that, don't say that, don't say that…_

"_This is not your-your fault…"_

"Ah!" Chrom gasped seeing Anali's shoulders shutter in a sob. "I didn't mean- That's not to say I plan an rolling over and dying! It's not a concrete thing, I'm just… saying… I promise, I'll try not to leave you and Lucina like that."

"I know," Anali sniffled trying to dry her eyes. "I know… Gods, when did I become this pathetic? Crying at the drop of a hat lately…"

"Hey," Chrom said playfully, helping Anali around so that they were face to face. "Don't talk about my wife like that. She's as good as any man, the mother of my daughter, and my one true love."

Anali's shoulder's shuttered again, but a sob never followed. Her face was beat red in a blush. She leaned forward, resting her forehead against Chrom's chest. Her shoulders shook again and a breathy, muffled sound was heard. "Are you crying or laughing?" Chrom asked placing a hand on her shoulder. "Either way I can tell you're embarrassed."

"I don't know… And yes I am."

* * *

**Authors Note:** About two things have become more and more certain. The first; most of the children's romances will have to be a separate story. The story proper will at least delve into the royal's romances (that includes Owain), but over all it'll have to be it's own story. The second; Tybalt's romance will have to be it's own story. Yes. I was planning on Tybalt geting some love. But the more I think about it, the more I realize it's going to have to be it's own story.

This chapter hinted such, so I can so tell everyone's going to be looking forward to the next chapter. ^-^

And, as a reminder, I've been writing a story for Fire Emblem Fates, **_Circles in the Stream_**. Feel free to take a peek at it.


	38. Chapter Thirty-Eight

**Chapter Thirty-Eight  
Gift From Afar**

_The only other person she allowed to hold onto the Falchion was Aunt Lissa. The queen regent held the blade in one arm, and Owain's hand in the opposite hand. Lucina held onto two little hands, one in each, while Ylisse's Pegasus Knights and Griffin Riders urged the five forward. They were doing an emergency relocation to the Eastern palace._

_Miss Sumia helped Owain onto her pegasus, all the while whispering something to that made him smile. She knew her little girl's playmate enough to know what would keep him calm. Lord Tybalt helped Aunt Lissa onto Falkor, then, crouching down low, he reached his arms out towards Lucina. "Up you go, Milady," he said playfully._

_Hesitantly, Lucina released the little hands and allowed Tybalt to lift her onto the griffin's back with Aunt Lissa. A Pegasus Knight took the little hands Lucina had previously been holding, and lead them over to another pegasus. "W-wait!" Lucina called out, reaching out for them. _

"_It's all right, sweetie," Aunt Lissa said looking down at her. "They'll be right behind us."_

"_I'm afraid Falkor's getting a bit old, Milady," Tybalt said, mounting the griffion. "Any more than this would be too much for him."_

"_B-but…" Lucina felt like crying. Father and Mother said she had to keep them safe as their big sister._

"_It's all right, Luci," said Aunt Lissa. "Now, hold on."_

_Miss Sumia and Owain had already taken flight. Falkor only needed to beat his wings twice before he pushed off the floor. "Lucina, don't look!" Aunt Lissa shouted suddenly._

_It was a plea that came from a good place, but ultimately worthless. A dragon, bigger than even that of Castle Ylisse, loomed over head. It's maw revealed a second row of teeth, it's six eyes glowed a dangerous red. It's body was like that a of a serpent, with three sets of wings carrying it effortlessly. _

_This was Grima. This was the being who killed her Mother and Father._

_Instantly, Lucina looked over her shoulder, and nearly let out a sigh of relief when she saw their pegasus flying a few miles behind Falkor, having just taken off. Her relief was very short-lived. What was undeniably dragon's breath crashed straight into Castle Ylisse. _

_And they were close enough to be caught in the blast._

Lucina woke up with a start, she felt as cold as ice, and the overwhelming urge to start crying. Sitting up, she placed a hand flat over her eyes and bit back the sob that threatened to come out. She had the very same dream every so often for the last fifteen years. But it was a regular occurrence during her first month or so in this era.

"_You're my hero Lucina," _that was her mother said to her. But Anali wouldn't be saying that if she knew Lucina failed to keep her little siblings alive shortly after her death.

Being able to see her mother and father again was nothing short of a dream. But one Lucina would have to wake up from one day soon. Once the war was over Chrom and Anali would no doubt lavish attention onto a small babe back in Ylisstol.

That child would get the life that was only a mere fantasy in Lucina's era. The mother, the father, the siblings, the uncle. The family.

Fishing inside her shirt collar, Lucina pulled out her locket. She smiled for a brief second at the memory of Gerome finding it, but that smile died as soon as she opened it. She was greeted with a tiny picture of her parents, and three blue-haired children. Lucina had vague memories of trying to be prim and proper when the portrait was taken, still on an emotional high of having not one, but two younger siblings.

They should have been seventeen by now…

Dressing herself, Lucina poked her head out of her tent, and was immediately met with the sight of Chrom and Anali's. She always insisted her tent be close by, the childish part of her that missed sneaking into their room at night.

They should have been at the ruin's Lady Tiki mentioned by mid-morning, and would retrieve the item she needed. She stepped out of the tent to find Anali speaking with Owain; Anali carried a sheet of paper in one hand. They were clearly in some sort of conversation, which ended with Owain hugging Anali enough to pick her off the ground.

"What was that?" Lucina asked, approaching Anali after Owain took off.

"Your cousin asked me to help name a few weapons," Anali explained, straightening out her coat. "I'm not sure if they're in his possession or not. Missiletainn has been treating him well, which only adds to my confusion."

"Oh, Owain will name whatever he can get his hands on," Lucina explained with a sunny smile. "I overheard him trying to find a name for Aunt Lissa's staff and tome, and I understand he talked Uncle Gaius into naming his sword."

"And he's trying to help me name my lance," said Anali. "We're having a hard time finding something that can match Sikanda."

* * *

"Hey, did you hear that?"

"Yeah. It sounds likes it coming from the entrance."

"Wonderful. Now what?"

"Here has to be another way you. Ehm…"

"Come on! You're the tactician, right?"

"Hold on, lemme think… Okay! There has to be another way out. You go down that way, I'll go down there. We each go a hundred paces, turn back, then we'll go from there."

* * *

Despite Frederick's protest just Chrom, Anali, Say'ri and Lucina went inside the temple. The only reason Frederick even let the matter go was because Cynthia, being very, very eager to spend time with Frederick, dragged him off. But there was no doubt they would be getting an earful when they returned.

The inside of the temple looked like it was made of ice, though it was actually warmer inside then the late-summer weather of Regna Ferox outside. Anali could hear the faint, but unmistakable, sound of babbling water. The temple entrance hall was very barren, with a wall that was starting to collapse on itself. "So…" Lucina stretched the word out. "The tear Lady Tiki mentioned is in here?"

"Aye," Say'ri said with a brief nod. "They legends say the tears are the very ones shed by the divine dragon, crystallized after pooling together for a hundred years. Lady Tiki says she occasionally requires them after a sleeping for so long."

"It wouldn't happen to be an easy path to this tear, would it?" Anali asked.

"Fie," Say'ri said with a small laugh. "You think something this sacred would have easy access?"

"Of course it

Chrom poked his head down the corridor. The hallway, straight down, was long but there were clear forks that lead either to the left or the right every few meters. "I think we're going to have to split up," Chrom said, retracting back into the room.

"This place looks like it carries sound pretty well," Anali nodded, bringing a hand to her mouth as she looked thoughtful. "If we come across trouble, it shouldn't be that hard to call for help. For now I think it's a good idea to go down each corridor a hundred paces, turn back, then we'll regroup, see if anything's come up."

Anali went passed three hallway entrances before she went down one of them. A hundred paces, then back again. The hall was more or less the same as the entrance hall, brick walls that looked like they were made of ice but gave off no chill.

At step seventy-three Anali started to hear the familiar strained grunting of Risen, and the battle cries from a human girl. Instantly, Anali sprinted further down the hall, numbers and paces went straight out the window. She found a teenaged girl with a large axe in her hands. She sliced right through the middle section of a Risen in tattered garb of a myrmidon.

A second Risen, an archer, knocked his bow, and drew the string back. Anali's hands went straight for her tome. Her hand shot forward, electricity blasted the Risen off his feet.

The girl looked over her shoulder to find Anali putting her tome away. "Mother!" the girl exclaimed happily. She dropped her axe onto the floor and ran straight up to Anali with a force that nearly knocked her over. "We were looking everywhere for you! I was beginning to think-"

"I'm sorry, _what?_" Anali asked, recovering quickly, she held the girl at arms length. "'Mother?' Did… did you travel back from the future with Lucina?"

The girl stood a little shorter then Anali; she was dressed in the worn, tattered clothes and dirtied armor that was threatening to come undone. Over all the garb reminded her a little of Cherche's armor. But it wasn't what the girl whore that caught Anali's attention. It was her hair, her eyes, her skin. Her hair was no longer then the nape of her neck, her bangs covered her forehead, while to locks framed her face.

Her hair was _blue_. Not just any shade, but a shade of blue that was more than just familiar to her. Anali saw that shade at her bedside every morning and every night. She saw that shade on her precious little baby back in Ylisstol and on her adult-self. Her skin was the same honey brown Anali's was, and her eyes were red. It only just dawned on Anali that she must have gotten her eyes from Validar.

Which meant this girl got her eyes from Validar… Her grandfather. The color at least. The shape was definitely her fathers.

This girl had to be another daughter of herself and Chrom.

Lucina never mentioned having siblings. She implied as much, but…

"Huh?" the girl asked. She took a step back and tilted her head to the side. "Who's Lucina? And did you seriously just ask me if I came from the future? Come on, Mom! It's me, Marc! Little angel, your baby girl and all that?"

Marc? It was a bit boyish for a daughter, but still very cute.

Groaning, Marc's hand placed itself over her eye as her face contorted in pain. "My head…"

"Easy!" Anali said, placing her hand on Marc's shoulder, maternal instincts kicking in. "Don't try to force it. Just…" she raked a hand through her bangs. "Marc, listen, I know this sounds mad, but I believe that you came here from the future."

Marc's headache was gone in an instant. "Are you out of your mind?" she asked. "That's impossible."

"Not really," said Anali. She bit her lower lip. "Look at me closely," she pointed to herself, "do I look like I'm of an age where I could have a child as old as you?"

"Well…"

"At this point in time, in my time, you still haven't been born yet. I just gave birth to your sister not even three months ago."

"My sister?"

"Yes, Marc. Don't you remember a sister, Lucina?"

"N-no…" Marc gripped her chin. "And you do look kind of young to have had me… I'm sorry, I don't remember…"

"It's hard, I know," Anali said through a sigh. "We should keep moving, especially if there's Risen around here and if your memory is gone. I was in the same position once, you know. If your father hadn't found me lying in that field, who knows what would've happened to me…"

"A sister…?" Marc repeated. Swaying from side to side, she tilted her head to the side. "But I came back with-"

Anali grabbed Marc, pulled her into her chest, and leapt back. A Fighter had snuck up on them. Removing her arm from Marc, Anali reached for her sword and thrusted her arm forward., The blade only just made a small, tiny cut in it's abdomen. The Risen was not just going to fall onto the sword.

Marc had rolled away from Anali and dove for her discarded axe. She positioned her hands so the axe was well balanced in her grip. The she tossed it forward, the blade dug into the Risen's back, and it disappeared in it's usual haze.

* * *

About two things he was certain, the first; there were Risen in this temple, the second; no one was screaming, which most likely meant that everyone was doing okay. By the time the Risen appeared Chrom had lost count of how many paces he took. And he was pretty sure he was going to end up getting turned around once the problem at hand was taken care of.

With one well-placed strike of the blade the Risen disappeared in a haze, allowing Chrom to continue forward. The corridor took a left turn, and he immediately came face-to face with a teenaged boy. The boy cried out in surprised, but smiled as he placed a hand over his chest. "Jeez, you scared me," he breathed out.

The boy looked up and instantly, his expression changed three times within the span of seconds. His eyes widened as soon as he got a good look at Chrom, then his brow furrowed together in a way that told Chrom he was thinking. Anali had taken the same look on more than one occasion. The, finally the boy smiled lightheartedly. "Who are you?" he asked

"I would ask you the same thing," Chrom replied without missing a beat. "More importantly, why are you here? This is hardly a safe place to be wandering alone."

"I… I don't know," the boy said, avoiding eye contact with Chrom. "We woke up in the middle of a field…" He paused to scratched at the side of his head. "I can't recall anything before that."

He probably shouldn't have, but Chrom smiled. "That sounds familiar."

"But I remember my name," the boy said pointing at himself. "I'm Morgan.

"I'm Chrom," he said, sliding Falchion into its sheath. "And finding amnesiacs is apparently my special talent." He added that with a small, playful smile. "I met someone very dear to me the same way. Her name is Anali."

"Anali?" Morgan repeated his eyes widening again. "Is this friend of your perchance a tactician?"

Chrom blinked once. "Yes. She is. Do you know her?"

"Of course I know her," Morgan said with a smile wide enough to split his face in half. "She's my mother!"

"Your… Mother?" Chrom repeated, his heart skipping a beat. Didn't that mean Morgan was Chrom's…?

_Morgan!_

Anali wanted to name their son Morgan.

Morgan stood at about Chrom's height with a thick coat, which Chrom just realized was identical to Anali's, that covered the Plegian sorcerer garb underneath. He had on a belt with a sheathed sword attached. As far as Morgan's facial structure went, he looked like Chrom did as a teenager. The boy's hair was as blue as Chrom's with strands that stuck out in the back like the boy had just climbed out of bed, a trait he got from his father no doubt. His skin was as brown as Anali's, and his eyes were read.

There was no doubt about it. "Morgan," Chrom said holding a hand out in front of him. "Stay calm and listen to me. Anali is my wife. Which means you're likely my son who came here from the future."

"What?" Morgan asked instantly. "Is that why we have no memory? But we remembered Mother. Why wouldn't we remember you?"

'We?' Did they have a third child? "I don't know," Chrom confessed. "Do you recall a sister named Lucina?"

"N-No," Morgan said, avoiding eye contact with Chrom again. "Just a sister named Marc. We split up to find a way out."

So they had another daughter. Or at least they _would_ have another daughter, just like they _would_ have a son. "I suppose it's a blessing you at least remember your mother," Chrom muttered to himself. "Maybe something will come back once you've met with her and Lucina, and I suppose Marc. Until then, you'd best come with me."

Chrom unsheathed his sword and took one more look at his son. His coat, that was most likely Anali's, was perfectly intact, but the skirts of his garb underneath were dirtied and tattered. It was clear Morgan had gone through something before he and Marc ended up in the temple. He allowed himself to wonder of Marc was in a similar state. "And stay close," Chrom said, his voice taking on a tender tone. "I don't want you to get hurt."

An awkward grin played upon Morgan's face as he removed his own sword from it's sheath. Chrom recognized the sword almost instantly, Anali had given him the same sword for his twenty-first birthday. "Thank you… Father," he said, the word sounded new to his tongue. "Don't worry - I can defend myself."

* * *

Lucina was positive she found the tear. The Risen has that 'chief' feel about them. A sorceress with some of the strongest thunder spells. But Lucina was always light on her feet, the most she felt was the heat of electricity as she dodged it.

Gritting her teeth, Lucina held the blade level to her eye, and pushed herself forward. The tip dug itself into the Risen, and it quickly disappeared in a haze. A pedestal stood behind the Risen, where a crystalline tear drop rested on the surface. Lucina took the tear into her fingers with a shaking hand. She held it up to her eye for a moment, before she put it somewhere safe on her person.

The Risen that littered the temper disappeared as soon as the chief was gone. Say'ri was the first one to have made it back to the entrance hall with Anali and Marc returning mere minutes afterwards. The Chon'sin princess chortled at the sight of the younger girl. "Fie," she exhaled, "are you finding children just about everywhere now?"

"Maybe," Anali said, placing a hand on Marc's shoulder. "This is Marc, she's going to be mine and Chrom's daughter. Marc, this is Say'ri, princess of Chon'sin."

As soon as the word 'princess' left Anali's mouth, it dawned on her that if Marc was Chrom's daughter, then that must mean she had the Mark of Naga as well. "A-Actually, Marc," Anali said, causing the younger girl to look up at her. "Do you happen to remember your father at all?"

Marc looked at Anali with a blank expression, but soon, her brow knitted together and her lips pressed together in a hard line. She was troubled. "N-no…" she said, her pupils retracting at the realization. "I just remember you and-"

"Mother!" Morgan breathed out before he wrapped his arms around Anali. Like Chrom, Morgan stood almost a head taller than her.

"Morgan!" Marc breathed out, bouncing on her heels. "And here I was thinking you got your head cut off."

Scoffing, Morgan waved it off. Marc's eyes wandered away from Anali and Morgan, to Chrom who walked up to the trio. "As it turns out, Anali," Chrom said, crossing his arms over his chest. "We're going to have a son."

"I noticed," Anali said, holding her hands on Morgan's arms. "And a daughter."

Chrom gave Marc a warm smile. "You must be Marc," he greeted.

Without another word, Marc ran into Chrom's arms. She had no memory of her father, so she wasn't sure how to react. But this was generally how daughters greeted their fathers, wasn't it? But her insides felt like they were dancing when Chrom returned the hug. "It's nice to meet you, Marc," he said kindly.

A strained gasp caught everyone's attention. Lucina stood at the corridor, her face pale as a ghost, and pupils contracted. She looked like she wanted to cry. But instead, Lucina turned on her heel and she just bolted back down the hall. "Was…" Morgan's voice trailed off. "Was that Lucina?"

"Chrom?" Anali inquired.

"I'll go talk to her," Chrom said, gently pushing Marc away from him. "Maybe you can fill Morgan and Marc in."

* * *

Lucina sat on the floor, with her back to the wall, her knees hugged close to her.

She couldn't get the memory out of her head. The faces of little Morgan and Marc, still unable to comprehend that Father and Mother weren't coming home. That they weren't waiting for them at the Eastern palace. How they thought they were just going for a simple pegasus ride. How they would have no idea that that simple ride would cut their lives off tragically short.

Lucina should have insisted they ride on Falkor with her. They would still be alive if they did.

Seeing them here, today, about the age they would be had they lived… It was too much for Lucina. She needed to gather her thoughts before she actually spoke to them.

She heard someone walk up to her, then felt them slide onto the floor beside her. "I've more or less figured out that there was at least one other member of the family," said Chrom. Lucina lifted her head and looked up at her father. A thin line of tears had slid down her cheeks. "You made a few slips and said 'we.'"

"I'm sorry," Lucina said immediately. "I should have told you and Mother before, but… I didn't know how."

That was a half-truth. Lucina was afraid to say it. Saying it out loud made it all the more true. "I couldn't protect them," she admitted, her voice shaking like a leaf. "They were hardly even three…"

"And you couldn't have been much older," Chrom pointed out. "I'm sure they wouldn't blame you for what happened."

Sniffling, Lucina tried to dry her eyes with the heel of her palm. "But if I'd just insisted they ride with me…" she said. "We were supposed to go to the Eastern palace. The Fell Dragon attacked Ylisstol and Morgan and Marc were caught in the blast of one of the attacks during our evacuation."

"Then they definitely wouldn't blame you," Chrom said, patting her on the shoulder. "No one could have predicted what the dragon could have done." He tilted his head back, and raked a hand through his bangs. "If they were barely three when they died… It's probably safe to assume these aren't the same Morgan and Marc you knew."

"Probably," murmured Lucina.

"But this may be a good thing. Morgan doesn't remember much, and it would appear that Marc doesn't either. This give's the three of you a good opportunity to bond as siblings."

Lucina's brow knitted together. That was what she wanted for the longest time. A chance to bond with Chrom and Anali. To have her little brother and her little sister back despite all logic. Lucina had both now, and she ran under pressure. Overwhelmed by their presence, older than she had ever known them.

After waiting a few moments to calm down, Lucina followed Chrom back into the entrance hall where Anali was speaking with Morgan and Marc. She learned that the children were born on the fifth of May, they both were, making it very likely that they were twins. She had just explained to them who exactly their father was to the people of Ylisse, what that made their mother, and their sister, and who they themselves would be when they were born in this era. Who it made them now on a technicality.

Their heads turned to the corridor, the twins both stared at Lucina, and vice versa. Morgan broke the silence with an, "Uh…"

"I-I just want to…" Lucina stuttered, reaching a hand out for a breif moment.

She approached Morgan and took his left arm into her hands. She pulled his sleeve down, and turned his hand over, palm up. A gasp escaped Anali's mouth. "Gods…" Chrom gasped.

Morgan's forearm had an ugly burn scar, starting from the heel of his hand, until it disappeared under his sleeve. The skin was an angry pink, but it looked like it was a few years old at least. On the inside of his wrist, was the Mark of Grima, black and inky. It wasn't like the mark on Anali's hand purple and almost ethereal, Morgan's mark was clearly a tattoo. "Ew!" Marc breathed out. "That looks painful. When did that happen?"

"I don't know…" Morgan said at a complete loss. "I didn't even-"

"It's really you…" Lucina said just above a whisper.

Her fingers brushed a tiny patch of unscarred skin. Looking carefully, one could see the Mark of Naga, still somewhat visible in spite of the burns, but a little obscured by the tattoo. Marc looked at the Mark on Morgan's wrist, to the Mark on Chrom's shoulder, and back. "Do I have one too?" she asked pointing at herself.

"Possibly," Chrom explained to her. "Most members of House Ylisse have it somewhere on their person. Your sister has it in her eye. Your cousin Owain has it on his arm. You have a late aunt who had it right here-"

He poked Marc on her forehead lightly, slightly playful, which caused Marc to giggle. "Keep your eye out when you get yourself cleaned up," Chrom continued.

"It's really you," Lucina repeated, happier tears slid out of her eyes. "Morgan!"

Releasing his hand, Lucina wrapped her arms around her brother and cried into his chest. Having inherited Anali's height, Morgan stood taller than his older sister. He tried to smile as best as he could, and patted her on the back.

* * *

Aversa cried out, dropping to her knees as cold sweat dripped from her forehead. Tears of anguish and self-loathing spilled out of her eyes.

She found the Wellspring of Truth, and it showed her just that. Whether she truly wanted it or not. Aversa really was Anjou Mahto. There wasn't really a point in denying it. The Wellspring had shown it to her herself. But that wasn't the hard truth that made Aversa want to vomit her guts. No, no, no.

She was working for her parents murderer. The man who slaughtered her village.

* * *

Lissa was absolutely ecstatic to meet her new nephew and neice. Owain, more or less, had the same stunned reaction to the twins Lucina had. As small children Morgan had been Owain's best friend, and a fellow cabal member. Seeing them again was one of those rare moments when he dropped the theatrics and just plainly asked how his younger cousins presents was even possible. It was as clear as crystal that Owain and Morgan were going to get along swimmingly.

Frederick was able to tear himself away from Cynthia and took the twins measurements and asked for their preferences in clothes. In the village he bought fabric, and as soon as the Shepherds rented rooms for the night at the inn, he went to work. He was not about to allow the newly discovered royals to walk around in old, tattered rags.

A couple of baths were drawn up for the twins, each disappeared into their respective rooms. "Twins…" Anali breathed out, shaking her head. "It hurt just giving birth to one baby."

Sensing she was in need of a shoulder, Chrom wrapped an arm around Anali, and kissed the crown of her head. "You'll be fine," he told her.

"Father!" Marc called. "I think I found something!"

Without thinking, Chrom went straight into the women's bathing room, oblivious to Anali's protest. Thankfully, Marc was not fully undressed. She had on a tight top that covered her bosom, and a pair of black leggings. Sitting on the edge of the tub, Marc had her right pant leg had been rolled up. "Is this is?" Marc asked, pointing at her calf.

Upon approaching her, Chrom lowered himself onto one knee, and gingerly took his youngest daughter's foot into his hand, lifting her leg up to get a better look. That was the tricky thing about the Brand of the Exalt, not only did it appear in random places from person to person, the size of the Mark varied from person to person. Calhoun's covered half his face, while Emmeryn's could have been mistaken for a large blemish.

What Marc had found, had indeed been the Brand of the Exalt. A find that gave Chrom a small sense of relief. She tried to keep quiet about it, but Chrom knew full well how sensitive Lissa was that hers never surfaced. And he remembered the accusations Calhoun threw at Silvia shortly after Lissa's first birthday. He didn't want his children to go through anything like that.

"Is it?" Marc asked.

"Yes," Chrom said, releasing Marc's foot. "It is, just as I said you'd find it."

"Em…"

"What is it?"

"I don't quite understand what it means," said Marc. "You and Morgan have it, and you said Lucina and Owain have it too. But I don't understand what it's supposed to mean."

Smiling, Chrom tussled Marc's hair. "It mean's you're my daughter just as much as you are your mothers," he told her. "But that would still be true with or without it."

In a way only Frederick could manage, new garments for the twins were made in astonishing time. Marc was given a form fitting blue, sleeveless tunic, not unlike the one Flavia wore. She kept the black leggings and boots she had with her originally. She was given a set of armor that resembled the Pegasus Knight armor. Though it was highly likely that Marc would be fighting like Vaike.

Morgan had a tunic that had some resemblance to Chrom's top. The one sleeve included. However, while Chrom's lack of a right sleeve was to show his Brand, Morgan's did not do such a thing. His one sleeve was meant to hide his burn scar. It was a little superfluous in the end, as Morgan was keeping his coat on. His slacks matched his tunic, though they needed to buy Morgan a pair of boots for him. With his new boots on, the slacks bagged out a little when they were tucked in.

During dinner that night, most, if not all of, the children gathered around the twins. They were bombarded with questions. Those who knew them shared childhood memories, some were just in awe that Morgan and Marc were even with them to begin with. It was like they were back from the dead.

In a way, they were.

"You certainly look better after a bath and a bit of food in you," Anali said, standing in Morgan's room with him. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Of course," Morgan said, shrugging off his coat. Anali had to sigh at the one-sleeved tunic. Frederick… "I think I'll like sleeping in a bed after sleeping on the ground for days."

"I don't mean to pry," Anali said slowly. "But you really, honestly don't remember anything?"

Morgan shook his head once, but cast his eyes skywards immediately after. "Well…" he said. He reached into his coat and took out a book. Anali recognized it instantly, it was the first book on tactics from the Hero-King's era. Her favorite. "I know I wanted to be a tactician, like you. So… I want to help you win this war."

"Are you sure?" Anali asked. "I'm not going to lie, Morgan, sometimes the stress of the job gets to you. You should have seen how I acted when your aunt Emmeryn died."

"Then let me help before it gets to that again. While we were wandering, Marc and I wanted nothing less then to find you."

"I suppose I can't say no," Anali said through a sigh. "There's no better way to learn after all."

She placed a hand on Morgan's shoulder. "Lucina thinks you might have come from a different future," she said. "But I'm glad to have you and Marc here with us."

"I know," said Morgan. "Believe me, I know."

Anali wrapped her arm around Morgan's shoulder, pulling him into an embarrass. "I'm going to see how Marc is settling in," she said. "Good night."

"Good night."

Anali walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Once he heard the click, Morgan reached into his coat again and pulled out another book. It was perfectly identical to the one he showed Anali, right down to the dog-ears. He pulled his sleeve, revealing the partially obscured Brand, the scar, and the tattooed Mark of Grima.

How long would he be able to keep it up?

* * *

**Authors Note:** I know just about everyone's been looking forward to this chapter for months. So have I.

Twins!

So… I never agreed with the theory that Morgan inherited the Mark of Grima. Because the Avatar is the only character connected to the Grimleal that has the mark somewhere on their body. Validar has it on his clothes, Henry has it on his collar (thought I'd say Herny's more of a grey-area), the Avatar's the only one to have it somewhere on their body. They're the pure one. So Morgan, by the very nature of conceiving children, would be impure. Especially if their other parent is of the Exalted bloodline or Tiki. And it provides a nice contrast with Naga. Only one person can have Grima's mark, while Naga's will appear on anyone of the Exalted bloodline. Even, as Fates shows, if they were born in different worlds and have the blood of another dragon-god, whether distant descendant, or grandchild.

And likewise, I don't agree that their Mark of Naga would be in the eye or the back of the hand. Between Chrom, Emmeryn, and Lucina we're shown that the Mark's location is not dictated by where their parent or relative has it. It can appear anywhere on their body. So I really hate that Chrom!Inigo's in his eye, we have that with Lucina, they couldn't have been a bit more creative? Morgan and Marc have more original placements. Inside of the left writs for Morgan, outside of the right calf for Marc. They still managed to mirror each other.

So, yeah, twins. I went back and forth with that one for a long time. Even when writing this story. I have my reasons for ultimately deciding on twins, but I can't in good conscience get into that now. But I do know that I didn't want them to be too much alike, hence why only one of them is a Tactician. This, and their names would be reversed if I was writing for a male Avatar. It's also supposed to be meant as something of a nod to their Future Past classes, with Marc as more of a brawler. So if I went with a Male Avatar the female Morgan would be the Tactician, and the Male would be a Mage.

And, as a reminder, I've been writing a story for Fire Emblem Fates, **_Circles in the Stream_**. Feel free to take a peek at it.


	39. Chapter Thirty-Nine

**Chapter Thirty-Nine  
Inexorable Death**

_The sky was a warm orange, the wind picked up a thin cloud of dust. Chrom stood amongst a rocky terrain overlooking a desolate wasteland. Anali stood before him, her back to the wasteland, perched precariously on a crumbling cliff side. He stepped forward, reaching a hand out to grab her and pull her to safety, but Anali simply smiled. What was usually a warm gesture sent chills down his spine._

_Chrom stopped in his tracks as Emmeryn's ghost appeared from behind Anali. Though it was two years after her death, Emmeryn was without her Sage robes, instead wearing glorious robes of pure white. Her halo diadem was much grander than the one she wore in life, it was made of delicate gold vines with tiny, tiny white stones on the leaves, like morning dew in the sun. Emmeryn was absolutely angelic._

_Emmeryn's arms wrapped themselves around Anali affectionately. She whispered something into Anali's ear, who responded with a nod of the head and a twitch of her lips. Chrom's heart started to pound in his chest._

_Woman and ghost tipped back off the ledge, causing bits of the earth to fall with them. By the time Chrom was within arms reach of Anali, it was far too late._

Chrom woke with a start, his heart beat fast in his chest, and his blood ran cold. Exhaling, he mused how he would have sat up were it not for the weight on his chest. He lifted his head as best as he could to find Anali curled up at his side. Her head was rested on his chest with one hand laid flat beside her face.

Taking joy in that was just a dream, Chrom wrapped an arm around Anali's shoulder. It was just a dream, his wife was not about to throw herself off a ledge. And Emmeryn, living or dead, would _never_ ask anyone to do such a thing.

It was strange though, wasn't Anali supposed to be the one with foreboding nightmares?

After the initial shock that they would have twins wore off, and the shock amongst the children that Morgan and Marc were here, they traveled back to the Mila Tree and presented Tiki with the tear. Afterward she was wide awake, and entrusted Chrom with the gemstone she guarded.

Say'ri nearly collapsed when she learned that Walhart's men tried to, at best, abduct Lady Tiki. Thankfully they had enough foresight to leave most of their men in the port town, with a few guarding Tiki themselves. Nowi really had a lot to say about how well she and Nah worked off of each other.

When fully awake Tiki was eager to meet everyone. From there Say'ri lead them to the Resistances home base. It was a little humorous to see pirates mingle with civilians and warriors of Chon'sin. Right now they were just waiting for Walhart's next move.

In that time Chrom and Anali spent time with the children - it was odd to think of them like that, they were only a few years younger than Chrom himself in all technicality. Lucina wanted to go shopping with Anali and Marc. Between the two of them Morgan was asking questions, how did his mother and father meet - to which Chrom was still keeping quiet about - when did they marry, what about Aunt Lissa and Uncle Gaius, who was Uncle Arun? He simply wanted to know about his family. Marc on the other hand was trying to force memories of her father. Chrom had caught her trying to bring it about by banging her head against a post.

Lucina was getting along with her brother and sister quite well, even if the three of them together couldn't kill a simple roach. Marc was the most intrigued by Lucina's situation, traveling with them as a young woman, but also a baby not even three months old back in Ylisstol. During that time Morgan had become best friends with Owain overnight, something Lucina said was true in their era. Marc had taken to befriending Noire, something Tharja seemed thrilled about, but made herself a terror to Yarne.

In the evenings, so long as time and scheduling allowed it, Morgan would play Anali's board game with his mother or Virion. The first time Morgan played against Virion Anali went on a small rant, saying their son came closer to beating Virion on his first try then Anali did.

Chrom knew Anali had woken up when she repositioned herself and clearly snuggled into him. He buried his nose into her hair, taking in the scent of the cherry-scented soaps she loved to use. "We have a meeting," he reminded her.

"Yeah…" Anali mumbled into his side. "Can't we afford to spare a few minutes?"

"You know the effort _I_ have to put in to dressing myself. Too many belts."

Anali snickered. She had long since gotten over her shock at the layers and belts Chrom's usual garb consisted of.

Sighing, Anali pushed herself onto her hands, the right strap of her nightgown had slid down her shoulder. Chrom ran a hand through her hair. Without either of them needing to say anything, Anali lowered herself back down, their lips meeting.

There was a fire in Anali's kiss that was often absent when they were in front of others. She wasn't afraid of being improper or of setting an example for the army when they were in private like this. She didn't scold him, or worried about decency when Chrom slid the other strap of her nightgown down her shoulder, or when he left a trail of kisses along her neck and bust. "Chrom that tickles," she giggled, her shoulders shuttered with a delightful chill.

Chuckling, Chrom kissed her on the temple. "We really need to head to the meeting," he said playfully pushing Anali onto her back, allowing him to get up.

Letting out a staged sigh, Anali rolled onto her front on the empty space on the bed. By the time Chrom had finished dressing, Anali had only gotten her slacks on. "I'll snag something to eat for you," Chrom said as he walked out of the tent.

"Yeah, yeah…" Anali exhaled.

Bemused by his wife's antics, Chrom released the flap. "Father, wait!"

Before he knew it, Morgan had barreled into Chrom's side. He stumbled to the left, and suddenly felt weightless for a moment. Between landing himself, and Morgan's landing on him Chrom suddenly was not sure if Morgan and Marc would exist in this era now. Groaning, Chrom opened his eyes to find a perfect circle picturing the morning sky above him and dirt walls.

Morgan rolled off his father and held his head in one hand. "Morgan…" Chrom began dumbly.

"Yeah, Dad?"

"Did you dig a pitfall expecting your mother to fall into it? In front of _our_ tent?"

Silence. "Yes… I'll fill it up…"

* * *

When Basilio learned about Morgan's antics, he could not stop laughing. Especially when he was told Chrom was the one to fall into the pitfall. Flavia was quick to scold Basilio for it, citing that Morgan fell in too, and could have been hurt. The East Khan instantly accepted Morgan and Marc as her nephew and niece, just as easily, and readily, as she did the elder Lucina. Then she unsubtly asked Anali when she could expect the twins child-selves.

There were a grand total of seven people at the war meeting, Say'ri, who had laid out a map of Valm as per Anali's request, Chrom and Anali, with Lucina in their shadows, both Khan's, and Perry, representing Septimus. "I received word this morning," Say'ri said when the chatter amongst the group settled down. "The Resistance is ready to answer to the call of battle. They are simply waiting for the call to sound."

"That's excellent," said Chrom. "We shouldn't have much problem with our own forces, and the Resistance."

"But a man like Walhart will not roll over dead at the first sign of trouble, Chrom," Anali was quick to point out.

"Aye, my lady, as you say," Say'ri agreed. "He will muter his forces to put down the Rebellion. Then his gaze will turn to us." Exhaling, she tilted her head back for a moment. "Against his full might, we would not last long, even with Septimus' men." She lifted her head again and eyed Perry wearily. "I do question why the Pirate Lord cannot join us."

"You said it yourself, my lady," Perry said dully, crossing his own arms over his chest. "'Pirate Lord.' He's got to keep his own ships safe."

"Back to the matter at hand," Chrom said, clearing his throat. "Where are Walhart's men garrisoned?"

Instantly, Say'ri stared down at the Valmese map. "The Valmese Imperial Army is comprised of three main divisions," she explained. "One controls the north, one the south, and the third in the lands between," she pointed out the areas as she spoke. "Emperor Walhart commands the northern forces. Their might easily exceeds our own. The south is lead by my brother, Yen'fay. His host is aid to rival Walhart's."

"You don't say…" Anali exhaled, gripping her chin.

Flavia grinned knowingly. "I see a plan brewing in those eyes of yours, Anali," she said with a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Well, if we could divide their divisions," Anali said, her hands held out in front of her. "Disrupt Communications, supplies, and so forth. Then introduce misinformation to add to the confusion…" she moved her hands side to side as she continued, "a whisper here, a whisper there… The panic would spread on its own and all the quicker for their great numbers. Such a giant force could collapse under its own weight."

"Say'ri," Chrom spoke up. "The third division, stationed between the other two…"

"Aye, sir, at Fort Steiger," Say'ri said, almost reading Chrom's thoughts. "Halfway along the highroad," she pointed out on the map. It was hardly far from where the base was now. "We might stand a chance against them… But it would take speed, and luck. I wager Walhart and Yen'fay will hear of our exploits soon enough. And that's assuming they haven't already."

She looked up at the counsel before her. "I suggest sending the bulk of our army to the north and south to mask our plan. An elite force, lead by Sir Chrom, might then quietly slip through Fort Steiger." Pausing for a moment, she took a deep breath in. "What say you?"

"I say, 'aye,'" said Chrom.

"Aye," added Flavia.

And so it was.

Say'ri sent her own troops to the north and south, though they had direction to go in, they waited three days before they made their own attack. The journey to Fort Steiger took less than a day. The fort's walls were as high as the eye could see. Though, no where near as intimidating as the Mila Tree, but the thought did nothing to make Anali feel better. If this was what Walhart's fortresses were like, what was the man himself like? "Damn…" FLavia said, voicing everyone's thoughts. "This isn't going to be easy."

"It's not the _walls _I'm worried about," Basilio said dully. "It's the hordes of Valmese _inside_ them."

"Our best bet is a swift, surgical strike, right at the heart" Say'ri said, standing at the West Khan's side. "If we can strike down their commander, the fortress will be ours." She turned her gaze at the blonde woman, and the mercenary. "So - Khan Flavia, Perry, your men will take on the forces surrounding the castle. That should create an opening for a smaller team lead by Chrom and I." Grimacing slightly, she glanced at Chrom, who was hand-in-hand with his wife. "I regret to say this will put you at the forefront of the battle, Sir Chrom."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Chrom said, causing Anali to squeeze his hand tighter.

A bold smile played upon Say'ri's face. "Then it's settled. I have received word that reinforcements are on their way. With luck, they'll arrive in time to help."

* * *

Pheros studied herself in the mirror, her blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders in soft waves, while her bangs fell over her right eye. She had just painted her lips a very light shade of pink, a subtle color to accentuate her natural beauty. While positioned in a fort that had seen little excitement these days Pheros always made herself look her best should they be graced with a visit by Emperor Walhart.

She found herself wishing for the nth time that the Emperor had stationed Cervantes here instead of her. That simpleton would make an utter fool of the Emperor, at least Pheros was more dignified than that mustache-twirling twat. What she would have given to be as close to the Emperor as he was.

"General!" one of the Valkyrie's under Pheros' command shouted.

The sudden intrusion had caused Pheros to screw up on her eye-makeup, creating a black line that started from the corner of her eye, to her earlobe. "What?!" Pheros snapped, turning towards the Valkyrie.

"There's an attack, at our doors," said the Valkyrie. "They're about ready to break in. Yen'fay's sister is leading them with the Exalt of Ylisse."

Pheros sighed as though this news was a simple inconvenience rather than a rebellion attack. "Very well," she said, wiping the dark markings off her face. "Have my armor and tome ready. If this so called 'resistance' wants a battle, then we shall give them one."

Perry's men were able to break down the large double doors easily, nothing that out of the ordinary compared to what they pillaged in the past. The mounted units amongst the Shepherds stayed outside with the Khan's men while Chrom and Say'ri lead their grounded units into the fort.

Pheros men consisted of highly skilled healers, war monks, and other Valkyrie's with a few hidden archers and heavy-hitters littered amongst them. Pharos stood with a healing staff in one hand, her Bolganone in the other. She could not believe the pure arrogance of the Resistance. Their numbers were small compared to Steiger's. Were they really that desperate?

Lucina sprinted through Steiger with Marc at her heels. Where it not an important battle, Lucina would have been impressed with Marc's strength; she was able to carry her axe over one shoulder, and keep up with Lucina with little trouble. The thought left Lucina feeling both pride and a little disappointed. It was wonderful to know her lost sister grew up into a capable girl, but Lucina wanted to be the one both Marc and Morgan could rely on when they were in trouble.

One of Pheros' archers stepped out from the corner, readying his bow. Instantly Lucina drew her blade back and threw it forward. The archers bow split into two pieces at the shaft, much to the man's surprise. In the man's momentary stupor, he completely missed Lucina's oncoming attack.

The archer fell, not dead, but bleeding and on the way to death if he didn't get help soon. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, Lucina looked over to find Marc throwing the blade of her axe into one of the Valmese men of the cloth. She caught sight of a fiery attack at the opposite side of the room, followed by one of Owain's boisterous shouts.

Say'ri had kept as close to the Exalt and his wife as she could. Really, it was just Chrom she wanted to speak to but Lady Anali always found her way to Chrom's side. Or perhaps they actively sought each other out. The Chon'sin princess was impressed with their teamwork, just one little shout and the other understood just what it meant and acted accordingly.

Anali would shout Chrom's name and the Exalt would duck, allowing Anali to safely cast a spell towards the enemy. A grunt from Chrom and Anali would leap out of the way, allowing him to cut down a War Monk. There was an art to the way they worked off each other. It made Say'ri a little envious.

She heard a door burst open, followed by a triumphant battle cry. A weight was suddenly lifted from Say'ri's shoulders. The reinforcements had finally arrived. The battle was as good as won.

Pain shot through the back of her shoulder. Biting back a cry, she gripped her shoulder, glancing over it to find an arrow sticking out. Whipping around, Say'ri tried to work through the pain. She was nearly floored when she saw General Da'san from the north had taken aim at her, implying he was the one who shot her.

Her heart dropped when she saw Eo'jin, one of Chon'sin's finest blacksmiths, taking down one of Say'ri's men. Guk'ju, a maid from the castle pushed her blade into a Resistance member.

Oh no…

"They've turned cloak!" Say'ri shouted, hoping Chrom could hear.

"Are you sure?" Chrom asked, kicking away one of the original War Monks.

"Aye, sir!" Say'ri said, breaking the arrow by more than half. "I know some of them by name. I just do not under stand why they would turn against us now?!"

Had Say'ri looked up, she would have seen the plump, highly effeminate man looking down from the second floor banister. He tapped the tips of his fingers, spider-like in length, against the railing repeatedly as Say'ri cut down the Chon'sin general Da'san.

His pink-painted lips pursed to the side as the Ylissean tactician queen converse with the Exalt. That damnable woman made a fool out of him with her little stunt with their warships. The Emperor had asked more than once why _he_ could never come up with such a strategy.

Well, the pride is present before the fall.

* * *

So, the northern and southern factions of the Resistance had suddenly turned cloak.

Pharos bit the bed of her thumb as she mulled over this. This wasn't exactly a _bad_ thing for Steiger, but she simply did not understand it. Three weeks ago the factions were so dead set on usurping the Emperor. Unless…

"Excellus!" she hissed. Of course, this had his stench all over it. "What is this meddling?!"

"'Meddling?'" she heard. Pharos did not need to turn around to know the effeminate man appeared at her side. She wasn't fully sure how, but the smarmy sage had obtained an ability to warp from one place to another. "Why, General Pheros, one might almost mistake you for ungrateful. This 'meddling' is going to save your post, and quite possibly your life-"

"We've no need for your parlor tricks here, schemer!" Pharos snapped, turning around to face him. "I can handle this myself!"

He held a hand close to his face. "Why yes, of course you can, General," Excellus said condescendingly. He grinned a wide, smug, tooth bearing grin. "I can see you're doing _so_ well already. You're obviously just…" he cleared his throat, "_waiting_ to crush the Ylisseans? Toying with them, like a cat!"

Pharos grit her teeth, her staff shook in her tight grip. There were very few amongst the Emperor's court and subordinates that actually liked Excellus. Cervantes, at best, tolerated him, but even then it was a cold politeness. What Pharos didn't know was whether or not Excellus actually knew this.

"I only brought these rebels so they might learn from your shining example," Excellus continued, gesturing to himself. "They were so anxious to join the cause…"

"Because you threatened them?" Pheros asked, her voice controlled, though she just wanted to tremor in disgust. "Tortured them? Or perhaps their families and villages?" She sneered. "Your so-called 'tact's' are both predictable and a joke."

Pheros knew she hit a cord when Excellus' nostrils flared. "I would not wish to burden you with such mundane details, General," he said through his teeth. "You have more important matters to think of, and to deal with…" he paused, "quickly. But rest assured, they are quite motivated."

He disappeared in a flurry of light and smog. Gritting her teeth, a shutter ran down Pheros' spine. Excellus was a worm by every definition of the word, yet she was the one squirming in the end.

Lightning struck the ceiling as one of her men were thrown up and plopped down unceremoniously onto the floor. Another bolt of lightning struck one of the support beams, the wood exploded. Dust, tiny splinters, large splinters and smoke filled the room. Pheros shielded her eyes, feeling them sting just a little bit.

When she looked up again, Pheros spotted a man in blue sprint up to her with a brandish sword. Cutting it close, Pheros maneuvered herself out of the blades path. She clutched her tome close to her and slid to a complete stop. The man of blue had already spotted Pheros again, and readied his blade for another attack. "So, you'd be Exalt Chrom," Pharos said, lazily flinging a tendril of hair over her shoulder. Her tome traveled from one hand to the other before she placed one hand flat on the cover.

"I followed your exalted sister, once," she confessed somberly. "Made the pilgrimage all the way to Ylisstol, just to hear her speak. I, too, grew up worshiping Naga and the Earth Mother."

Chrom furrowed his brow, his arms lowered slightly. "Yet you abandoned your faith…"

"I have no use for invisible spirits any longer." Pheros snapped her tome open. "I serve a god among men now. Emperor Walhart will do what no religion ever could and unite all people."

He shook his head. "Your naïveté betrays you." Chrom removed one hand from the hilt of Falchion to help speak with him. "Think about it; who willingly follows a tyrant?"

"Thinking plays no part in it." Pharos readied her spell. "In words and deeds, a great leader takes hold of the heart, not the mind."

Fire danced around her hand as she readied the spell. Furrowing her brow, Pheros threw a Bolganone straight at him. Chrom was quick to move out of the path, he pressed his back against a support pillar and waited for Pheros to make the next move. "I remember your sister possessed that selfsame gift for inspiring others," Pharos continued, readying another spell. "Doubtless many still cling to the power of her poetry." She smiled warmly. "But I have found a greater voice…"

Chrom emerged from his hiding spot before Pheros released her next spell. He went in for an attack, but Pheros blocked the attack with yet another spell. Chrom could feel the heat of the fire on his exposed skin, only some solace came from Falchion, still cool in spite of the heat, and provided some cover from the flames. "My sister believed we all desired peace," Chrom said over the roaring fire. "If Walhart holds such a promise, why must he use violence to unite the people?"

The fire died down when Pheros burst out laughing. "Now who is being naïve, Your Grace?" She flicked a lock of hair back over her shoulder again. "Sometimes those who will not walk must be dragged along or pushed asi- _AYE!_"

Pheros' tome slid out of her hand, she looked down at the tip of the sword penetrating her from her midsection. She had completely forgotten about the thunder spells. The exalt was not known for his magical abilities. But his _wife_ was. Pharos should have realized there was another in the room.

She moaned as the sword was pulled out of her, tears spilled out of Pharos' eyes. She would be unable to see Walhart unify mankind for herself.

Her knees bucked as she fell to the floor, she was vaguely aware of Chrom hurrying to the person behind her, presumably his wife. Pharos vision showed her blurred shapes, then grayed colors. She passed peacefully, almost sighing in content.

* * *

They were only able to seize Fort Steiger when their mounted units and the Khans men burst in and cut down the turn cloaks. They were able to claim the fort, but the former Resistance were still vast in numbers, and there was no doubt they had caught the Valmese attention now. The exalt and his wife regrouped with the Khans and Say'ri, they going over the situation at hand when Perry sprinted into the room. "My lords and ladies!" he exclaimed as he ran. He slid to a stop and gave them all a hastened bow. "A messenger hawk just came for Princess Say'ri. It would appear your forces to the north and south have been decimated by Walhart and Yen'fay. Most of the survivors have turned their coats for the empire."

Instantly, Say'ri's face paled. "But our troops numbered in the hundreds of thousands…"

Basilio crossed his arms over his chest. "The empire must have had more."

"Or perhaps been better trained and equipped," spat Flavia.

"And I'd hate to be the barer of _more_ bad news," said Perry. "But their armies are marching towards this fortress. It's only a matter of time before they get here."

"So much for fortune favoring the bold," said Basilio. "This war was lost before it even began."

"All our struggles until now…" Chrom mused, "and we've yet to so much as dent the empire…"

Anali kept a fist balled up over her mouth during the exchange of words. There was only one window of hope she could see, but she hated what she was about to propose. "We need to leave," she said firmly. "Now. When the other armies arrive, we'll be trapped for certain, and no doubt captured at best, killed at worse. If we intend to escape, now is our best chance."

Say'ri took a moment to bite the bed of her thumb. "She's right. The dynast outside betrayed us only out of fear for the empire. They'll only put up token resistance without their masters watching."

"I don't disagree," said Chrom, "but we can't keep running forever." He turned his attention towards his wife. "Anali?"

"We could strike either Walhart or Yen'fay before they join strength," she said.

"Either one seems a death sentence."

"One general would be upon us before we could finish with the other," Say'ri pointed out."

Anali nodded. "Agreed. Which is why we attack both."

"But are army is already in fractures," Perry pointed out. "You propose to divide it by a further half?"

"I never said anything like that," said Anali. "Chrom would lead our strongest troops against Yen'fay. Meanwhile, a smaller force would attack Walhart."

"A smaller force?" Basilio gripped his chin in thought. "We couldn't defeat him even with double our entire number."

Anali's face contorted, hating everything she was about to suggest. "I didn't say we'd defeat him," she said, refusing to look up at them. "We only need to distract him."

Basilio mused, "Spend some lives to buy the other team time…"

Chrom raked a hand through his bangs. "This smaller force would face our most dangerous mission yet. It would need a leader of unparalleled skill, reckless bravery-"

"All right, Chrom, please," Basilio said, clapping the younger man on the back. "Your making me blush. I'll do it, but stop with all the compliments!"

"This isn't a time for japes, Basilio!" Anali snapped. She turned towards him with glaring eyes and flared nostrils. "The stakes could not be any higher than they are now!"

"I am being serious." Basilio cracked his knuckles. "I'll lead the squad. Though I prefer my steaks well done…"

"That's just his way, Anali," Flavia said, reassuringly. "Bad jokes come with the bravado. But the oaf clearly has faith in your thinking. And I as well, but you already know that." She pulled Anali into a tight embrace. "All of us do, I'd wager. Somehow you manage to find a way to best the odds."

There was a tremor in her hands, something Anali tried to control when she returned Flavia's gesture. She wished, she _wished_ she could have the same confidence Flavia and Basilio had. But Anali had a bad feeling. As soon as she spoke the plan outloud, she was filled with concern and dread.

"That settles it, then," boasted Basilio. "I'll make preparations and be off. The rest stays with Chrom."

"Godspeed, Basilio," murmured Anali.

"Wait!"

In unison, the group turned to find Lucina, standing with her arms extended blocking the closest exit. Why wasn't Anali surprised to find Lucina was eavesdropping. "I cannot allow you to go, Khan Basilio," Lucina declared. "You will die in this battle. I know if for truth!"

Basilio crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head to the side. "You know, lass, you have a strange way of saying good-bye." He shook his head as though it were all a mild inconvenience. "All right, then. Who offed me? Is it Walhart himself?" He took a moment to chortle. "_Please_ say yes. It'd make a poor song to die at the end of some farmer's pitchfork."

Lucina's face contorted as she lowered her hands. "Yes, it was Walhart," she said. "Or so goes the stories I heard." Her resolve returned in an instant. "We must change our plans so fate cannot take this course! Mother, surely there's another way!"

Stiffening, Anali brought her hands together, creating a muff out of her sleeves. "Anali, don't say anything," Basilio said, glancing over at her for a moment. "I know all I need to."

Lucina's expression fell, unable to believe what she was hearing. "Y-you're still going? But I just told you-"

The West-Khan held a hand up, silencing her. "Aye, I heard you just fine. But someone still has to stall his division from advancing. If he's the one that kills me, then I'll just avoid confronting him." Grinning, he gestured to himself. "You don't grow this old and handsome without knowing when to fold them."

Slowly, Lucina shook her head. "N-no!" she shouted. "It's never that simple!"

Flavia took a step forward and walked up to Lucina, she gently grasped her shoulders. "Don't worry, love, he'll be fine. He'll have me to keep an eye on him."

"But Aunt Flavia!"

To the surprise of both of them, Basilio reached out, grabbed Flavia by the shoulder, and forced her around. "Hell no! You aren't coming, woman!" he snapped. "You're the reigning Khan!"

Thoroughly unimpressed, Flavia crossed her arms over her chest. "I thought you intended to survive this, oaf," she said pointedly. "Regna Ferox has two khans, and now you're responsible for both." She got up in Basilio's face. "I _dare_ you to die now!"

Several moments of uncomfortable silence ticked by, only broken when Basilio threw his head back, roaring in laughter. "All right, all right. You can come," he said. He looked over his shoulder. "Hope that's all right with you, Chrom."

Smiling a tired, lopsided smile he said, "Just look after each other."

"But…" Lucina tried to argue.

"Don't worry, Lucina," said Anali. She skipped to the Khans side. Taking Basilio's hand into her own, she lifted his arm as best as she could, showing off his muscles. "A man like this won't be taken down easily."

"Mother…"

Basilio removed his hand from Anali's and clapped her on the back causing her face to twist in pain. "Hey, if Anali says it's so, I'd believe it."

Basilio shouted for a few volunteers, gathering more than enough for the following mission. He risked a few moments to choose out of them, who was the best and who was risking the most. "May I propose something," Perry spoke up. "I'd like to volunteer to stay behind."

"Say again?" asked Say'ri.

"We're already cutting it close. If my men can engage in battle with Walhart's forces, that should buy you more time to escape."

"No!" Anali said shaking her head. "We're already sacrificing lives. We don't need to risk yours. It's suicide."

"My lady," Perry spoke up. "We made this alliance to put an end to Walhart's reign. Everyone who followed your colors knew what the risk was. So let us stay behind and we'll buy you time. It has to be us. No one will follow the leadership of pirates."

"All right, let's move out!" Flavia ordered, she and Basilio lead their group out of the fort.

As soon as they disappeared, a bang was heard at the door. "Go!" Perry encouraged. "We'll try to hold out as best as we can."

"No… No!" Anali insisted. "We can-"

"My lady, you said it yourself," Say'ri said, taking Anali by her upper arm. "If we are to escape, now is the time."

Chrom and Perry gave their armies their respected orders. The Shepherds sprinted through the fort until they came to the corridor leading them out the back. Anali nearly tripped over herself. She stopped in place, staring at the tiled floor, her hands shook, her face felt hot to the touch.

Gritting her teeth together, Anali threw a fist to the side, driving it into the wall. Her hand trembled further with an added layer of pain. Angry tears slid down her cheeks, blurring her vision. They were running with their tails between their legs, potentially sacrificing two close allies and their men, and sacrificing a people who simply wanted to end Walhart's tyranny.

She should have been better.

"_So why aren't you?" _said a snide little voice. _"Why hold back any longer? Why resist?"_

Anali was taken out of her reverie when she saw a nothing but a face-full of dark fabric. She felt an arm around her shoulder, and a hand on the top of her head. "We have to keep moving," Chrom murmured.

She nodded once; Chrom took her uninjured hand into his and they continued their trek out of the fort and to their next destination.

* * *

Thunder clapped, illuminating the field momentarily. Rain pelted down from the heavens. "Fall back and form up!" Basilio ordered. "Don't let them scatter us!"

"Easier said than done!" Flavia snapped back. "Their cavalry is riding right over us!"

Basilio simply grinned. "We can hold our ground." He punched the air with his axe hand. "I'll show you how a real Feroxi fights, woman!"

A sudden yell caused the Khans to snap their heads in the direction of the voice. They were just in time to see two of their men fly into the air before they landed in a heap. Drops of blood trailed from the wounds on their chest. "Some kind of elite cavalry?" Flavia questioned aloud. Her expression dropped when she had a better view of the attacker.

He was a heavy-set man in intimidating red and black armor. His horse was a beast of an equine, large enough to carry such a large man. His axe was a large, deadly thing, almost as tall as its wielder. And the worst of it all, was that the man was alone. "You there," Walhart declared, his piercing white gaze upon the Khans. "Do you command these forces?"

"Aw, crap," Basilio muttered to himself.

Regardless, he charged forward the instant Walhart urged his beast forward. Walhart brought his axe down upon Basilio; for a split moment, he saw nothing but red. Basilio forced himself to ready his axe and threw if forward, only for the Conqueror to block it with little trouble.

Basilio cried out again when Walhart slashed him once more. He fell onto one knee, panting heavily as his wounds bled out. "Impressive," Walhart said, his voice low and raspy. "You're the first since Yen'fay to survive beyond a single stroke."

Spitting, Basilio tried to look over his shoulder. "Everybody run!" He roared as best as he could. "Go!"

He heard the sound of rustling grass and splashing water. "I'm not leaving you!" Flavia said appearing at his side.

"He's a demon woman…" He panted. "I can only keep him… busy while you… you escape… Looks like… Looks like the lass was right…"

"I think not!" Flavia spat venomously. She stared down Walhart, readying her own axe. "_I'm_ here, and that means events can be changed! You're not getting away from me that easily!"

She leapt forward, hurling her axe at the Conqueror. Her axe simply bounced off his thick armor. Walhart's lips pulled back, amused, before he counter attacked. Flavia's axe slipped out of her hand as she stumbled back. Her armor had shattered, and her side had already started to bleed. Walhart readied for another attack; Flavia simply grit her teeth.

Basilio threw himself in front of Flavia, taking the blunt of the attack onto his back, the two fell onto the rain-soaked ground. "You fool!" Flavia spat.

With labored breathing, Basilio took something off of his person. "Give…" he panted, "Give this to Chrom…"

Flavia held her hand out, allowing Basilio to drop a round red, marble into her palm. "Is this… the Gemstone?" she questioned.

"You have too… survive…" He coughed. "G-give it to him…"

"Give it to him yourself!" Flavia snapped, deliberately ignoring the wounds on Basilio's front and back. "I'm not going anywhere and neither are you!"

Growling, Basilio grabbed Flavia by the collar. "Fool woman!" he roared at her. "I'm finished! Don't let it… be for nothing…" His grip on Flavia's collar loosened. "For… For once in your life… just do what… what I say…"

His hand fell to the ground in sync with his head. Panic tore through Flavia, she tried desperately to search for any vital signs. One of Basilio's men took Flavia by the arm, shouting that they had to run, that Flavia needed to be looked at immediately.

Flavia's anguished cry echoed across the field.

* * *

**Authors Note: **It's September 4th, which means it's Embers second birthday! I'm a little disheartened that I didn't get that many chapters out last year, but I do have an idea of how many chapters are left.

To the _**Circles in the Stream **_readers;  
I'm giving the story an overhaul. I'm just not happy with it. I'm not deleting it, I'm just rewriting the whole thing. I'm not happy with it. The prologue and first chapter are up, however.


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